UEFA Champions League: Atletico Madrid vs. Liverpool Preview, Odds, Prediction

The clash between Atletico Madrid and Liverpool is, without any debate, the derby of Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League games. The Spanish champions had enough time to rest, as they didn’t play this weekend. Meanwhile, Liverpool was furious in Watford, showing why we believe they have solid chances to win this competition once again. The Reds were clinical, and above all, eager to play. Atletico will have a tough time restraining the guests’ attack, but if there is a head coach who knows how to prevent the rivals from scoring, that is Simeone.

Preview

Atletico Madrid (+210) didn’t play this weekend because of the internationals who appeared in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers. Since the Madridians have a lot of players from South America, the Spanish FA decided to grant them a postponement.

It means that Atletico’s last game was against Barcelona, a derby they won routinely, 2-0. We are aware that Blaugrana isn’t anywhere near the level of play from the previous years, but still, defeating them without the slightest problems needs to be respected.

Simeone’s crew has been without a loss at home since the start of the campaign, playing five times, however, winning only twice. The upside is that the Madridians kept three consecutive clean sheets at Wanda Metropolitan.

Liverpool (+130) smashed Watford at Vicarage Road with 0-5, with Firmino scoring a hat-trick. It was obvious since the kick-off that the Reds wanted to play football and that they came to roll over the rivals.

This was their 11th straight game this season without a defeat, and the Reds are one of few teams in Europe who still didn’t felt the taste of loss in the 2021/22 campaign.

What you need to know about Klopp’s side is that it plays very efficient football on the road. So far, it has four wins and a draw, and in each game, the Reds netted at least three times. In the last two against Porto and Watford, we saw them beating the rivals’ goalkeepers five times.

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Mateus Cunha is out for the home team, but that won’t be too big of a problem for Simeone.

Meanwhile, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, and Alcantara are out for the visiting side.

Head to Head Games

Just before the COVID-19 madness began, these two sides met in the round of 16 of the 2020 UCL edition. Following a 1-0 win at home, Atletico went to Anfield, where they eliminated the reigning champions at the time, beating them 2-3 following extra times.

Liverpool previously eliminated Atletico in the 2010 Europa League semis.

Prediction

Liverpool’s rhythm is unreal now, and we strongly believe that Klopp’s unit is among the top five in Europe. We don’t know whether they have some particular motive to play in Madrid, but if they go out with the strongest lineup, a win is guaranteed. That is if they play with the 11 best players. Otherwise, go with 2 or 3 goals, that is moderate efficiency.

Pick: Liverpool wins (if they go out with the best 11) +130

Here are the preview for more UEFA Champions League games:

• PSG vs. RB Leipzig
• Ajax vs. Borussia Dortmund
• Benfica vs. Bayern Munich
• Barcelona vs. Dynamo Kyiv
• Porto vs. AC Milan
• Besiktas vs. Sporting