RB Leipzig vs Liverpool Preview and Betting Tip

The Champions League is back this week and I’ll be taking a look at RB Leipzig vs Liverpool.There is no doubting that Liverpool will be glad of this distraction from the Premier League. Jurgen Klopp’s men fell to yet another demoralising defeat at Leicester at the weekend and they couldn’t be in much worse form coming into this first leg. RB Leipzig have had to forfeit home advantage and this match will be played in Budapest. Julian Nagelsmann’s side are in much better form than their opponents and they will fancy their chances of taking another big English scalp on Tuesday night.

Opportunity Knocks For Leipzig

RB Leipzig went as far as the semi-finals in last year’s Champions League. They eventually came unstuck against PSG, losing 3-0. The German side will have learned a lot from that run and the experience should stand to them this time around. They have plenty of previous against English opponents too. Spurs lost 4-0 on aggregate to them in this competition last season and while they lost 5-0 at Old Trafford in this year’s Group stage, they turned the tables in the reverse fixture and secured a 3-2 win that sealed their place in the knockout stages.

Julian Nagelsmann is viewed by many as a sort of Klopp clone beacuse of his similar tactical approach. RB try to play the game at 100 miles per hour, both in and out of possession. When they get it right they are a very hard team to stop but they are prone to the occasional collapse. When they are not 100% at it, they tend to concede a lot of goals.

Angelino is their standout player this season. He has 7 goals and 7 assists across all competitions and he will be looking forward to coming up against Alexander-Arnold. I wasn’t too impressed by Upamecano when I watched him at Old Trafford though. He looked excellent on the ball but when caught upfield he never seemed in much of a rush to get back into position. Bayern may have splashed the cash but I think he is someone who Liverpool might be able to exploit if they can dispossess him high up the pitch.

Luckless Liverpool’s Misfortunes Continue

Jurgen Klopp conceded the Premier League title this weekend after his Liverpool team, who had played very well for 75 minutes, collapsed to a 3-1 defeat at Leicester. When Mo Salah applied the finish to Firmino’s fabulous set-up in the 67th minute everything looked rosy for the Reds. However, a sloppy Thiago tackle, initially awarded as a penalty but changed to a free kick by VAR, was curled home by James Maddison and Liverpool imploded.

Alisson charged from his goal to intercept a hopeful long ball that his new centre back Ozan Kabak looked to have under control. The two collided, almost comically, and the ball broke to Vardy who walked it into an empty net. Harvey Barnes soon added a 3rd and it was game over. It was Liverpool’s 3rd defeat on the bounce in the Premier League and they have conceded 7 goals in the last 2 games.

The Champions League has gone much better for Liverpool. Bar a 2-0 loss at Atalanta and a 1-1 draw in a dead-rubber at Midtjylland, they won 4/4 without conceding a goal in their Group. Those results came when they at least had one or two fit centre-halves though and that isn’t the case now. Fabinho is likely to miss out again on Tuesday so it will be a make-shift pairing again. Klopp will have to pick two from Henderson, Kabak and Phillips, hardly an ideal scenario. There could be another tough night in store for The Reds in Budapest.

RB Leipzig vs Liverpool: Last 5 Results

As the form table shows, RB Leipzig are the team coming into this game with momentum. They have won their last 4 on the bounce, conceding just 1 goal and scoring 10. Liverpool, on the other hand, are on a 3 match losing run and they have shipped 8 goals while notching just 2. It would make you wonder how the bookies have made Liverpool the 11/8 favourites with RB Leipzig as big as 43/20 with Unibet.

Value Lies With Leipzig

Liverpool showed in the first 75 minutes vs Leicester (and the first hour vs Man City) that they are capable of playing well against decent opposition. However, they are a fragile outfit at the moment and it seems that they struggle to overcome adversity. Alisson is bereft of confidence and that has knock-on effects for the rest of the makeshift Liverpool defence. Thiago looks a shadow of the player he was at Bayern and his work-rate against Leicester was shocking. Mo Salah continues to score goals and Firmino has shown flashes but Mane’s form has fallen off a cliff.

Leipzig don’t have near as many injury worries as Liverpool and Nagelsmann even managed to rest a couple of his key players in the weekend win vs Augsburg. Yes, the fact that this match will be played at a neutral venue is a negative for his team but as results have shown this season, home advantage is no longer as important as it once was in these Covid times. I fancy the German side to get the job done in what should be an exciting match. Back RB Leipzig to win at odds of 43/20 with Unibet.

RB Leipzig vs Liverpool Tip: RB Leipzig to win @ 43/20 (Unibet)

Key Quotes – RB Leipzig vs Liverpool

Julian Nagelsmann: “They are the slight favourites based on their international experience but we have shown that we can hold our own against such teams, both last year and this season with a very tough group stage. We have clearly developed as a team.”

Jurgen Klopp: “We have to keep our good things going. If you saw the games v City and Leicester, it didn’t look like games we’d concede 7 and score 2. It happened because of individual mistakes, we have spoken about that. One time it was miscommunication.”

Dave Stevos