UEFA Champions League
Champions League RO16 preview: Can the English sides prevail?
The second week of the Champions League Round of 16 gets underway on Tuesday, with some huge ties on offer, including a repeat of last season’s final.
We preview both English sides in action this week below.
Liverpool vs Real Madrid – Tuesday 20:00
Liverpool have exhibited cautious signs that their season could be back on track with successive 2-0 wins against rivals Everton and high-flying Newcastle. The Reds have recorded consecutive clean sheets in the league for just the second time this season, with a revitalised Joe Gomez playing an important part next to the returning Virgil van Dijk.
The duo will have to be at their best if they are to stop a formidable Real Madrid attack on Tuesday evening in what is a repeat of last year’s final in Paris, but nonetheless start as 13/10 favourites to win on the night. The odds for each team to qualify into the quarters are neck-and-neck at 5/6.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men are also off the back of successive league wins, with Saturday’s late 2-0 victory at Osasuna making it three wins in four for Los Blancos. They will however need to move heaven and earth if they are to make up the eight-point gap between them and Barcelona in first, so a good Champions League run currently seems a more feasible route to a major trophy this season. The Spanish giants will start Tuesday’s tie at 2/1 to win in 90 minutes.
You feel there will be plenty of goalmouth action in this one, with over 2.5 goals in the game priced low at 4/6, and we especially like the look of Mohamed Salah at 17/10 as an anytime goalscorer. Karim Benzema predictably leads the goalscoring market for the visitors (23/10), although Vinicius Jr looks generously priced at 8/1 to repeat his feat in last year’s final by scoring the last goal of the game.
Check out all the latest betting offers at William Hill
RB Leipzig vs Manchester City – Wednesday 20:00
Leipzig returned to winning ways on Saturday with a dominant 3-0 victory over Wolfsburg, reducing the gap between them and table-topping Bayern Munich to just four points. Remarkably, only five points separate the top six in the Bundesliga at the moment, but one hopes there won’t be any attention deficit to the glamourous European knockout competitions from our German friends. Regardless of this, Leipzig will have a sizeable task on their hands from stopping this Manchester City side on Wednesday, and are accordingly priced as 7/2 outsiders for victory.
City continue to be an enigma; just when you thought taking the initiative in the title race was becoming a formality, they were knocked back again by Saturday’s frustrating 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest, meaning Pep Guardiola’s side have won just one of their last four league games on the road. However, you feel this City team can turn it on when it matters most, as they exemplified against Arsenal last week, and you wouldn’t be criticised for thinking that the majority of this squad would rather triumph in the Champions League this year.
Guardiola’s men are odds-on at 3/4 to win in 90 minutes on Wednesday and are overwhelming 1/7 favourites to progress into the next round at the expense of the German side, who actually beat City 2-1 in their only other matchup at the Red Bull Arena in September 2021. City however won the return leg 6-3 that season, with Chelsea-bound Cristopher Nkunku scoring a hattrick on the night, with the Frenchman 12/5 to find the net anytime after recently returning from injury.
