With no Premier League games to worry about this weekend, the build-up to Liverpool vs Bayern Munich is already starting to come into focus. Liverpool have been blessed with an extended break prior to this home fixture in the Champions League knockout stages and will be looking to fight on two fronts.

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Current Form

Liverpool

After a brief stumble with consecutive draws domestically, Liverpool returned to winning ways last weekend with a comfortable home win against Bournemouth. Having only lost 1 game in the Premier League all season, Liverpool's previous 5 games saw them win 3 and draw 2.

The Champions League has proven to be a bit of a struggle for Liverpool so far this season. They qualified in 2nd place from Group C with 9 points, only managing to edge out Napoli on head to head statistics.

Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich started off slowly in the Bundesliga this season but have been in great form over the last few weeks and now find themselves 5 points behind first placed Borussia Dortmund. In their previous 5 league games, Bayern Munich won 4 and lost 1.

The Champions League group stages saw Bayern Munich qualify for the knockout rounds with ease. They finished in 1st place on 14 points, winning 4 and drawing 2 along the way.

Head to Head

Liverpool and Bayern Munich have only faced off against each other a total of 7 times, with the last game taking place in 2001, a win for Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup. Prior to that, the teams hadn't met since 1981.

Analysis

Liverpool

This game comes as somewhat of a distraction for Liverpool supporters and it's fair to say that the Premier League is the main focus this season. However, although some may feel that this fixture is a hindrance, it could actually be of benefit to the Liverpool squad. By taking the focus away from the pressure of a title race, this is an opportunity for the Reds to play more freely and simply see what happens. Of course, the manager and players will be desperate to qualify for the next round, but supporters will be able to take this one however it comes. A win would provide another opportunity to start a challenge for a Champions League title, and a loss would mean that the team can focus solely on the Premier League for the rest of the season. It's a win-win situation.

With home advantage, Liverpool have a great opportunity to win this game, but there are a couple of causes for concern. Van Dijk is suspended for this first leg and Lovren remains sidelined with a hamstring issue. With Gomez still recovering from a fairly long term injury, it means that Liverpool's central defence is likely to consist of Matip and Fabinho, and this certainly isn't ideal. Alexander-Arnold is training once again but there is no inkling as to whether he will be able to play in this game, meaning Milner could have to fill in as a makeshift right-back once again. Strategically, Liverpool just need to go out and play freely in this game and see what happens. They certainly have the quality up top to cause Bayern Munich issues, but it will be a difficult task with the injury issues previously mentioned.

Bayern Munich

Although Bayern Munich have struggled at times in the Bundesliga this season, they haven't lost a single game in this Champions League campaign. That will give them confidence that they can progress to the next round, and it remains to be seen whether Klopp will decide to rest key players with a Premier League game against Manchester United on the horizon. Nonetheless, Bayern Munich would be naive to underestimate this Liverpool team in the Champions League as they have thrived in high-pressure knockout stages for many years.

Strategically, Bayern Munich simply need to put as much pressure as they can on Liverpool's injury burdened areas. By attacking down the left, Bayern Munich would likely have more luck than the right as they'll be coming up against a makeshift right-back in Milner. However, Bayern Munich will need to be careful not to commit too many players forward in attack because they could quite easily be punished at the other end with a Liverpool counter-attack.

Predictions

This is the kind of game that is difficult to predict because there are external factors at hand. Liverpool will want to win the Premier League more than the Champions League but won't want to go out without at least trying. If Klopp decided to rest a lot of players then Liverpool could be in trouble, but a strong Liverpool team would likely be enough to get a result against Bayern Munich at home.

Prediction: Liverpool win

Score Prediction: Liverpool 2 - 1 Bayern Munich

Betting Picks

I have opted to back Liverpool to win in this fixture because I feel the odds are high enough to make it a worthwhile risk. Had Liverpool been priced in a bit more then I may have opted for the X2 market. I have also taken small positions on the Over 2.5 and Over 3.5 goals markets.

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