It hasn’t been a great week for Liverpool after losing to Galatasaray in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 match and also giving Igor Tudor and Tottenham their first points in a 1-1 draw over the weekend. But, it won’t matter if Liverpool are able to overcome its one-goal deficit and advance to the last eight of UCL on Wednesday. While they weren’t able to create much in Turkiye, few teams in Champions League play have worse home and away splits than Galatasaray.
How to watch Liverpool vs. Galatasaray, odds
- Date: Wednesday, March 18 | Time: 4 p.m. ET
- Location: Anfield — Liverpool, England
- Live stream: Paramount+
- Odds: Liverpool -400; Draw +550; Galatasaray +850
Galatasaray’s home and away results in Champions League play are absurd. Rams Park has been a fortress where they’ve only lost once while sporting a plus-11 goal difference. But leaving the comforts of home, Galatasaray have conceded 11 goals in five matches while only winning one. And that one win was against Ajax, so it almost doesn’t count, considering their fall.
At full health, there’s no reason that Liverpool can’t run up the score here to get the job done at Anfield. Victor Osimhen is a feared striker and should be taken seriously for good reason, but Anfield has been one of the best home pitch advantages in all of European soccer, and they only trail by a goal after the first leg of play. Liverpool also have only lost one two-legged tie with teams from Turkiye, so they will feel good about their chances here, especially with Virgil Van Dijk’s form helping from set plays.
Prediction
Once Liverpool get out to an early lead at home via Florian Wirtz, the Reds will roll in this one, as Galatasaray needing to open up their own attack will make it too easy to score goals. There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about Liverpool’s overall form, but that won’t come to hurt them in this specific match. Pick: Liverpool 3, Galatasaray 1
