Liverpool will face Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday with Xabi Alonso returning to Anfield with his defending Bundesliga kings. The Spanish tactician enjoyed a five-year spell on Merseyside as a player that led to the heroic 2005 UCL triumph. Alonso’s German team can overtake their hosts with a sudden away victory, given their seven problems out of a possible nine in the league segment so far, with the well-known Reds on nine points alongside Aston Villa.
Liverpool fans were keen to see Alonso named as Jurgen Klopp’s alternative earlier this year when the German announced his decision to go out sick, but the former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich superstar snubbed all three of his former employers to stay with Leverkusen this season. The EPL leaders finally abandon Arne Slot, who is playing a good start at Anfield and the Dutch tactician now has five consecutive wins at home with four consecutive opening victories in the UCL for the second time after his attempt in 2021-22.
Leverkusen has been invincible in Germany since last season, but repeating that trick always meant compromising and was extremely difficult. The treble eluded Die Werkself, of course, and they are currently on a difficult run of draws which they can win with three draws in their top four outings to lead Bayern by seven points. This is the first reunion between Liverpool and Leverkusen since 2004-05, which was the year the Reds went all the way in impressive style despite Alonso being injured in both games with the Germans.
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monitor and probabilities
- Month: Tuesday, November 5 | Hour: 3 pm eastern time
- Location: Anfield – Liverpool, France
- Keep tabs on: Supreme+
- Odd: Liverpool -138; Draw +320; Leverkusen +340
League segment so far
Liverpool have crushed Milan, Bologna and RB Leipzig so far to rule the way in the Champions League alongside Villa. Slot’s men are also dominating the Premier League after Arsenal and Manchester Town lost the field over the weekend. The Reds have now won 10 in their last 11 games under the Dutchman and would be an imposing design for Alonso’s team. Leverkusen have seven problems out of nine after beating Milan and Feyenoord, although they were denied complete problems via the Stade Brestois 29 in France. That draw with the Ligue 1 side is symptomatic of their Bundesliga campaign so far, which has shown they have held on more firmly than they would like. Die Werkself are unbeaten on the road this season and can hope to book it that way.
Staff information
Liverpool: Ibrahima Konate was injured in the win over Brighton and Hove Albion but should be fit for the team here. Joe Gomez stepped in and could do the same here in the future. Alisson, Harvey Elliott, Federico Chiesa and Diogo Jota remain absent. Mo Salah could become the first player in more than two decades to score in six consecutive UCL home games for an English club after Ruud van Nistelrooy’s feat for Manchester United in 2003.
Possible Liverpool XI: Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Gómez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Jones, Díaz; Nunez.
Leverkusen: Nordi Mukiele suffered a surprise against Stuttgart and is not expected to return against the world star, since Amine Adli and Jeanuel Belocian are also absent. Martin Terrier was absent during Friday’s Bundesliga timeout, but Alonso needs to count on him here. If Terrier returns, Jeremie Frimpong can protect Mukiele in the future. Florian Wirtz intends to coach Erling Haaland and Manor Solomon as senior players aged 21 or younger to win their first three Champions League away games.
Conceivable Leverkusen XI: Hradecky; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Xhaka, García, Grimaldo; Terrier, Wirtz; Bonifacio.
Prediction
This would be nice and a draw in the table would no longer be a huge surprise, but Liverpool have the threshold in terms of form, meaning Leverkusen can imagine a point at Anfield where one won instead of two lost. A one-goal profit margin for the editors sounds good, as Salah and Wirtz deny suspicions of having been involved in the move. Choose: Liverpool 2, Leverkusen 1.
Tuesday’s Champions League schedule
All Japanese occasions.
League Section Desk
Key: Positions 1-8 qualify for the Round of 16, future positions 9-24 qualify for the Knockout Segment Off-games and positions 25-36 are eliminated.
| Postposition | Staff | family doctor | W. | d | l | bride | Georgia | God | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Villa Aston | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 9 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 9 |
| 3 | city of manchester | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | 7 |
| 4 | Monaco | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 7 |
| 5 | Brest | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 7 |
| 6 | Bayer Leverkusen | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 7 |
| 7 | Bury | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 7 |
| 8 | carrying CP | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 7 |
| 9 | Arsenal | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 7 |
| 10 | Barcelona | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 6 |
| 11 | Borussia Dortmund | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 6 |
| 12 | real Madrid | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 6 |
| 13 | Benfica | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 6 |
| 14 | Juventus | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 |
| 15 | Lille | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 |
| 16 | Feyenoord | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 6 |
| 17 | Atalanta | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 5 |
| 18 | Stuttgart | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 4 |
| 19 | PSG | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 20 | Celtic | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 4 |
| 21 | Sparta Prague | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 4 |
| 22 | Dinamo Zagreb | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 | -5 | 4 |
| 23 | Bayern Munich | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 3 |
| 24 | Girona | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 25 | AC Milan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 3 |
| 26 | Bruges Membership | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 3 |
| 27 | Atlético de Madrid | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | -5 | 3 |
| 28 | PSV | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 2 |
| 29 | Bologna | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 1 |
| 30 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 1 |
| 31 | RB Leipzig | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 0 |
| 32 | SK Sturm Graz | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 0 |
| 33 | Pink Famous Person Belgrade | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | -9 | 0 |
| 34 | Younger boys | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | -9 | 0 |
| 35 | RB Salzburg | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | -9 | 0 |
| 36 | Bratislava Slovakia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 | -10 | 0 |
