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The UEFA Champions League returns on Tuesday night and it returns with a big match. The Premier League 2nd placed team will take on the Bundesliga 2nd placed team on Tuesday. The Kop will host the German giants who have reached the semi-finals on 7 of the last 9 occasions.
It is a very exciting fixture as both the teams rely on their attacks than defensive capabilities. It brings to the fore some magnificent players including Mo Salah, Robert Lewandowski, Thiago Alcantara, Sadio Mane, among others. Both the teams have some great young players in their ranks including Goretzka, Gnabry, Robertson, and Trent Alexander-Arnold. As big a fixture it is, there are many prematch facts worth knowing.
The biggest concern in an away tie is to score an away goal. It is a welcome advantage for any team. However, the visitors here, Bayern Munich, haven't scored a single goal at Anfield in three games. One thing that the German heavyweights would like to continue is their unbeaten run in this season's Champions League. But little do they know, that they are facing a team who is on an unbeaten run of their own, flawless in their last 19 home games in Europe.
With these facts revealed, we move on to our main concern. Here are five factors which we think could decide this fixture.
#5 Liverpool are the more vigorous side coming into Anfield
Fatigue is one of the most important factors in midweek games. With the cup games and league games already closely packed and now the European fixtures sandwiched in between, the teams have to rotate in order to keep their players energized. Teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona are suffering from fixture congestions.
Barcelona faces Lyon, Sevilla, and Madrid in a space of 10 days. Real Madrid will face Barcelona twice, once in CDR and then in the league, followed by the second leg against Ajax, all within a week.
Liverpool, in this case, has been very lucky. Already out of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, they only have to focus on the league and European fixtures. Their last league game was 10 days ago against Bournemouth and they have not stepped on the pitch after that. They won comfortably against them by a margin of 3-0.
Bayern Munich hasn't been very lucky with it though. The Bavarians faced Hertha in DFB Cup and then Schalke in a space of two days. Then one week later which is two days back, they faced Augsburg away from home, sweating to win 3-2. There is no prize for guessing who has more energy coming into the game. Liverpool has been practicing for the game for the past 10 odd days, Bayern is looking to catch a break.
#4 A battle of Liverpool's trident and Bayern Munich's defence
Bayern Munich has conceded 10 goals in the last 7 games they have played. They have conceded 16 goals in their last 9 away games in all competitions. They failed to keep a clean sheet even against Augsburg and Werder Bremen, two teams in the bottom half of the Bundesliga table. In their last Champions League away game, they conceded three goals against Ajax.
Bayern's defence consisting of Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Niklas Sule, Javi Martinez, has looked somewhat clueless at some instances. Hummels, Martinez, and Boateng are in their 30s and a quick pace attack can leave them at flat-footed at the seat of their pants.
In what is a very contrasting opposition attacking trident, all three of Liverpool's star forwards are blistering dribblers, have a good amount of pace, and they have a good take on ability. They are also on the better side of their 30s. Liverpool has scored 13 goals in their last 7 games. They have scored a mammoth 28 goals in their last 10 home games including the 5-1 humiliation of Arsenal, and the 4-0 dismantling of Newcastle United.
On paper Liverpool's front three have a very big advantage over the Bayern Munich defence. Their front three has scored 38 goals combined this season. However, no game is won on paper, we have to see what happens on the pitch.
#3 Virgil Van Dijk suspended: Liverpool's defensive doldrum
The biggest issue for the Reds heading into the game against Bayern is their defensive line. Their pivot Virgil Van Dijk is suspended for the fixture. Joe Gomez who had shown promise in the games against PSG and Napoli is out injured due to a broken ankle. Dejan Lovren was not involved in the game preparation due to a hamstring injury according to Jurgen Klopp.
This leaves the Reds with only one natural centre-back, Joel Matip. Matip has to be supported by either of James Milner or Fabinho both of whom 'can' play at the centre back spot but are not best suited or extravagant as such. The Bavarian will be strictly aware of the fact that Liverpool are not playing their usual centre back pair and this can be used to lethal advantage.
Robert Lewandowski certainly has a better aerial ability than Fabinho and Milner, at least due to his huge build. The anticipation and inexperience of playing at centre back also come into play. Kingsley Coman is also fit to play at the Anfield. Liverpool's defence will be in for one hell of a night.
#2 Thiago Alcantara's midfield superiority
The midfield is the heart of the team. Liverpool's weakness if any lies in their midfield. Naby Keita is surely the engine of the team but apart from him, Henderson, Wijnaldum, and the others are not imposing as midfielders. No one is the Liverpool team can act as a pivot too. One who distributes accordingly, one who picks out the spaces, one who can break the defensive lines, that one person is absent in Liverpool's defence.
When facing a team with an imposing midfield, like Manchester City, Liverpool has been exposed in the middle of the park. Liverpool's concern in facing Bayern mainly is their own defence but they better be wary of the Bavarian midfield too.
Even though Bayern's biggest name in the midfield will be the Colombian, James Rodriguez, Bayern's prime distributor and pivot, is Thiago Alcantara. A graduate of Barcelona's famous academy La Masia, which produced the greatest ever midfield duo in Iniesta and Xavi, Thiago Alcantara is the heir to Iniesta's regime. He is a great passer, averaging a staggering 83 passes per game with a success of 92%. He also has the highest number of long balls per game with 7, tied with Jerome Boateng who is a defender and bound to have long balls when he clears the danger.
Alcantara's efficiency in the midfield will be a key for Bayern. Jurgen Klopp had better be prepared to neutralize him.
#1 The battle in the wings: Robertson, Kimmich, Alaba, Alexander-Arnold
Wingers are of course the main protagonists in the wings but nowadays the concept of attacking full-backs predominates. Hardly any world class team is there whose full-backs don't leave their place in the defence move forward. Liverpool and Bayern Munich, both boast of full-backs with identical qualities in both wings alike. Andy Robertson and David Alaba are among the best left-backs in Europe. Trent Alexander-Arnold is a Golden Boy shortlist and Joshua Kimmich should arguably have made the FIFA Team of the Year 2018.
All four of our main protagonists will come up against each other. Andy Robertson will have a direct faceoff with Kimmich, both in attack and defence, while Alexander-Arnold and Alaba will have a similar affair. All of them boast of quality passing, passing, dribbling skills while also being good defensively. Kimmich and Alaba boast of a combined 130 passes per game with almost 88% success. Robertson and Alexander-Arnold have an almost similar number of passes with a combined average of 122 passes but the success percentage drops to 80%.
While Kimmich boasts of 2.3 key passes per game, Robertson, and Alexander-Arnold both have 1.3 and 1.1 key passes per game, while Alaba only makes 0.8 key passes per game. The number of long balls played is higher from the right-wing as compared to the left for both the teams. ( Long balls per game: Kimmich 4.5, Trent 3.7) When it comes to tackling Liverpool's full-backs are much better than their Bavarian counterparts. Andy Robertson (2.5) alone averages more tackles per game than both Alaba (1.3) and Kimmich (1).
These stats are just an insight before the game. Alaba has been well below his usual standards this season and Kimmich's brilliance is the reason that they could keep up with Liverpool's full-backs in stats. The wing with Robertson and Kimmich will surely be the busier one with Alaba not that fluent in attacking. Alexander-Arnold, however, will fancy his chances to fire down Bayern's wings as much as Andy Robertson.
Fasten the seatbelt, guys.
