Will the Reds win again at Klopp’s favourite opponent?
Playing against FC Porto has become a tradition for Jürgen Klopp as Liverpool FC coach. For the German, it is already the fifth duel with the Dragões as coach of the Reds Under him, LFC have won more games (three), scored more goals (eleven) and conceded more times (three) than against any other opponent in an international competition.
Liverpool will travel to Portugal on Tuesday evening with a strong tailwind, having won a convincing 4-1 away win in the quarter-finals of 2018/19 on their way to a sixth trophy for the Reds. Today, too, the odds are clearly in favour of the English in the run-up to the match between Porto and Liverpool.
However, it should be noted that the Dragões are very strong defensively. Already on the first matchday, they held Atlético Madrid to a 0-0 draw. At the Estádio do Dragão, they also kept a clean sheet in their last three group matches in the top flight. Therefore, there is a lot of value in betting on a low-scoring match between Porto and Liverpool
Portugal Porto – Statistics & current form
FC Porto have already won the Champions League twice (most recently in 2004) and have also celebrated two overall victories in the Europa League. The Dragões are thus highly respected internationally, even though they did not qualify for the top flight as national champions this year.
Instead, Porto punched their ticket for an incredible 25th participation in the Champions League preliminary round (only Barca and Real have more, with 26 appearances each) as runners-up. Consequently, the main focus is currently on the Primeira Liga, where the aim is to win the championship again in the summer of 2022.
17 out of a possible 21 points from the first seven league games
At the end of the 2020/21 season, Sporting Lisbon were five points behind. At present, meanwhile, they are four points behind Benfica Lisbon after seven completed matchdays. The Azuis e brancos (the blue and white) are still undefeated, but in five wins they drew 1-1 with Maritimo and Sporting early in the season.
Nevertheless, Sérgio Conceição can be satisfied with his team. In the Champions League’s Group of Death B, the Portuguese side finally managed a 0-0 draw in Madrid on the first matchday, taking their first away point from a strong opponent
Home three in a row without conceding a goal in CL preliminary round
Now, however, the Dragões face a fearful opponent of sorts. Not much has gone against the Reds so far with Jürgen Klopp as coach, which was due in particular to their poor finishing. Porto scored 45 times in their last four Champions League games against LFC, but only one goal.
That makes it all the more important for the Portuguese to keep things tight at the back. We expect the Azuis e brancos, who have won three Champions League group stage matches at home in a row, to focus on defence. Accordingly, a lot of value can be found in Porto vs Liverpool betting on under 2.5 goals.
Predicted Porto line-up:
Costa – Sanusi – Pepe – Cardoso – Corona – Díaz – Uribe – Grujic – Otávio – Taremi – Martínez
Last matches played by Porto:
England Liverpool – Statistics & current form
As six-time overall winners, Liverpool FC also feature prominently in the Champions League Winners 2022 forecast. The Reds underlined their strong form on matchday one when they overturned a 1:2 interval deficit against AC Milan to claim a 3:2 victory in the end.
LFC thus head into the second matchday as Group B leaders when they look to build on their recent strong record against the Portuguese side away at the Estádio do Dragão.
Leaders in the Premier League since Saturday
Jürgen Klopp’s side travel to Portugal with plenty of momentum. At the weekend, the 19-time English champions finally took over the top of the Premier League table. Admittedly, the Reds could not get beyond a 3-3 draw at promoted Brentford.
But because Chelsea suffered a defeat at the hands of Manchester City, that point was still enough for them to jump into first place. LFC took 14 points from a possible 18 from six league games and are still the only unbeaten team in the Premier League (four wins, two draws).
Unbeaten in five away matches in CL preliminary round
The six-time overall winners of this competition now travel to Portugal as favourites.
In the group stage of the top flight, LFC have not lost any of their last five away games (four wins, one draw) and have not even conceded a goal in three of the four games they have won away from home. If the English side can do the same now, there is even more to be said for betting on a low-scoring match.
Predicted Liverpool line-up:
Alisson – Robertson – Gomez – Matip – Alexander-Arnold – Keita – Fabinho – Henderson – Jota – Salah – Origi
Last matches played by Liverpool:
Porto – Liverpool Direct Comparison / H2H Record
Head to head: 0 – 3 – 5
Porto and Liverpool have met eight times so far and the Dragões are still waiting for their first win against the Reds. Most recently, under Jürgen Klopp, LFC won two clear victories in a row at the Estádio do Dragão by a total of 9-1 goals.
Portugal Porto – Liverpool England betting tips
Overall, the prediction for Porto against Liverpool clearly goes to the Reds. However, the Dragões’ defensive strength must also be factored in, as they have gone without conceding a goalin their last three home games in the Champions League group stage and also managed to keep it 0-0 away at Atlético Madrid on Matchday 1.
Accordingly, a lot of value can be found in this duel in the bet on a maximum of two goals. After all, LFC should also be able to live with the point in Portugal and rather not run headlong into the wall if it were 0:0 or 1:1
