Liverpool, fresh from their FA Cup 5th Round win against Wolverhampton, have reached Istanbul to play the 1st leg of their Round of 16 clash against Galatasaray at Rams Park tonight.
Galatasaray, the Turkish giants are having a great run and shocked Juventus 7-5 on aggregate to reach the Round of 16. Juventus were beaten 2-5 in Istanbul and in the reverse fixture in Turin, Galatasaray scored twice in extra time, to book their place in the Round of 16.
Liverpool will have to play out of their skin to come out of Istanbul unscathed. Osimhen and Yilmaz can be a handful, with Gundogan providing the much needed experience in the midfield. Mauro Icardi too is a potential match winner in the Galatasaray line-up. The expected 50 thousand vociferous crowd, backing their team to the hilt, will also create an unusual pressure for the visiting team.
Liverpool will take great heart from the performance of Andy Robertson against Wolves a few days ago. Salah too has scored in back to back games, which is a great confidence booster for Liverpool. No wonder Man to Man, Liverpool are a much superior side, boasting of great talent and priceless experience.
The head-to-head scenario however favours the Turks. They have beaten Liverpool 1-0 when the teams last met in September and in the past 6 games, Galatasaray have a favourable 3-1 record, with two draws. The odds, therefore, favour the Turkish side.
Liverpool might still win in it with a narrowest of margins if they play to their potential. Even a draw would be a favourable result for the Reds.
Galatasaray vs Liverpool, coming up in just over 3 hours from now.