Klopp’s men look to seal Champions League spot

The Reds are set to play Hoffenheim in the 2nd leg of the Champions League playoff on Wednesday night. They are the favorites going into this one.

Kick-off : 6:45 PM (Local)

Venue : Anfield, Liverpool

Referee : Daniele Orsato

Liverpool played Hoffenheim in Germany last Tuesday and won that game. The team’s gonna get a lot of confidence from that performance.

Hoffenheim’s first ever Champions League foray might be coming to an end a little sooner than they would have liked. Despite having a good record at home, they opened this tie with a 2-1 loss to Liverpool and have made their task harder.

On the other hand Liverpool has enjoyed a better start to the season. They drew 3-3 with Watford before getting a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace in the Premier League. They now aim to get into the Champions League.

Liverpool have been doing well on the European level. They won the Champions League back in 2005. While Hoffenheim are a new, up and coming side on the European front.

It’s hard to look beyond Sadio Mane in this game to get the goal for Liverpool, and though Hoffenheim have been scoring in recent games, it will be tough for them at Anfield.

Team news and possible line-ups

Hoffenheim’s centre-back Kevin Akpoguma and goalkeeper Alexander Stolz are expected to be missing this game.

Havard Nordtveit should play this game, As will Kevin Vogt and Benjamin Huebner. Those will be the three defenders.

Kerem Demirbay and Sandro Wagner are all expected to be part of the visitors line-up.

As for Liverpool, Adam Bogdan, Nathaniel Clyne, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana all remain sidelined.

Sadio Mane, Firmino and Salah should be the front three.

Hoffenheim XI : Baumann, Nordtveit, Vogt, Huebner, Kaderabek, Rupp, Demirbay, Zuber, Gnabry, Kramaric, Wagner.

Liverpool XI : Mignolet, Robertson, Matip, Lovren, Alexander-Arnold, Wijnaldum, Henderson, Can, Mane, Firmino, Salah.

Prediction

Both teams have been playing some good football recently, so I expect a 1-1 draw.