Two clubs that were tipped as massive favourites to advance are now basically fighting to survive and to advance in the tournament. Yes, PSG or Liverpool could potentially get knocked out from the group stages. Right now Liverpool are 2nd tied with Napoli at 6 pts but have a negative H2H record having lost to them meanwhile PSG are third with 5 pts and are on the verge of elimination and a loss here would in fact eliminate them assuming Napoli Win their game which is nearly a certainty. Liverpool have complicated things for themselves having lost to Crvena Zvezda but bounced back with a couple of wins in the league meanwhile PSG are coming off back to back draws with Napoli and despite their domestic dominance, in Europe they’ve won just 1 game from 4 and here it really is a must WIN for them. Liverpool would take a draw but we know for sure that they’ll aim to secure qualification here with a win and that should lead us to a very entertaining game between two great but desperate teams. Liverpool won the reverse fixture 3-2 at Anfield, but can they repeat that or will PSG be too much in France?
Key Facts
PSG are unbeaten in 20 consecutive home Champions League group stage games. Last loss coming in 2004. 15W 5D in that run.
PSG have won 9 of 10 games (1D) this season at home in all competitions scoring 35 goals!
Since the start of last season, PSG have netted 24 goals in 6 home Champions League games.
There have been 18 goals scored in PSG’s 4 UCL games this season which is a ridiculous 4.5 goals per game average.
PSG are yet to keep a clean sheet in the Champions League this season.
Neymar has netted 3 goals in UCL this season, however all of them cane against Zvezda meaning he failed to score in the other 3 games.
Edinson Cavani has been the man in form recently for PSG with 4 goals in his last 2 apps for the club.
Liverpool have lost both of their away UCL games this season having failed to score in each. (1-0 loss to Napoli, 2-0 loss to Zvezda). Dating back to last season, Liverpool have actually lost 3 straight European away games.
Despite their solid defensive record in domestic competition, Liverpool have only kept 1 clean sheet in 4 UCL games this season conceding 1.25 goals per game (5 in 4 games).
Mane (1), Salah (2) and Firmino (2) have scored 5 of Liverpool’s 7 UCL Goals this season.
Mo Salah has scored 7 goals in his last 8 apps for Liverpool.
Liverpool are one of the most disciplined Champions League teams with only 3 bookings in 4 games.
Team News
PSG: There was a huge sweat from the PSG camp regarding Neymar and Mbappe’s injuries but they’ve returned to training and are both available to play in this game meaning that they’re likely to start alongside Cavani. PSG saw the return of Dani Alves during the weekend but he’s likely to come off the bench again since he missed so much time it’d be too early to throw him into such a big game therefore Meunier will continue to start on the right side. Left back Kurszawa is also back but just like Alves isn’t expected to start as he’s not played yet this season and we should see Bernat fill the LB spot. Elsewhere there’s nothing to report.
Liverpool: Liverpool have had a couple of key injury problems themselves as Mane faced an illness after the Watford game and Gomez was out on Saturday with an injury but both returned to training and have travelled to Paris which should mean that they’re in contention to play. Mane will likely start while Gomez will look to displace Lovren at the back. Liverpool don’t have any other key injuries, Lallana Oxlade-Chamberlain Solanke and Clyne are all out but wouldn’t have featured anyway. Klopp has used 4-2-3-1 recently but is expected to go back to a 4-3-3 with Milner displacing Shaqiri to provide more protection. Henderson and Wijnaldum are likely to continue to start in midfield while Keita and Fabinho will sit on the bench.
Betting Tips and Predictions
As we already know this is a HUGE game for both sides and we can expect both teams to go for it. PSG are likely going to control the possession, but Liverpool’s rapid counter attacking play can’t be under looked here and that is why this shapes up to be an entertaining game. We are picking PSG to win at 2.06 however. PSG have been extremely dominant at home, their stars have not broke trough in Europe yet and it’s about time that they do. They got very unfortunate not to come away with a point at Anfield conceding at the death, but back at home the story will be different and we expect PSG to do a job, also Liverpool’s away European Record is extremely poor this season. Plus PSG are the better side in general in our eyes. We can anticipate goals here, but it’s best to leave the overs out because of the magnitude of the game since there’s always a chance of more cautiousness as we saw a few weeks ago when Napoli faced PSG, an almost certain over didn’t happen because of the cautious football played. We also anticipate cards over 4.5. We know for sure that one of these teams will be desperate at some point and that could lead to rash tackles and bookings. The prediction for this game is a 2-1 PSG Win and Neymar to bag himself a goal as he normally does in big European games (prices at 2.28 to score anytime).
Match Odds (Unibet)
PSG Win – 2.06
Draw – 4.00
Liverpool Win – 3.45
KICK OFF – 28th November 2018 – 8pm UK Time
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