Liverpool face tough night in Basel

Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool will want to put their disappointing Premier League form behind them and take a big step towards the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League with a win in Switzerland against FC Basel.

Having beaten little known Bulgarian team Ludogorets unconvincingly at Anfield on match day one, Liverpool have to put in a much improved performance against a team who are always difficult to beat in their home stadium, St Jakob-Park. Liverpool are hoping that England international striker Daniel Sturridge will be fit to take some part in the match and if so, new signing Mario Balotelli could find himself left on the substitutes bench. Elsewhere in the team, Philippe Coutinho is a strong favourite to start the game in an attacking midfield position having missed out in the Merseyside derby draw against Everton on Saturday.

As for the home team, Paulo Sousa can call upon the experienced striker Marco Streller to lead the line and he is in fine form, netting 5 times in 8 games so far this season. The Swiss champions need to bounce back having suffered a big defeat away to current Champions League holders Real Madrid and can not afford to lose this game if they are to stand any chance of qualifying from the group. Basel have a decent recent history against English opposition in the Champions League, having beaten Chelsea twice last season and also qualifying for the knockout stages at the expense of Manchester United in 2011/12. The only major concern for Basel is the continued suspension of Marcelo Diaz, with Serey Die likely to start in the midfield.

Basel are realistically competing with Liverpool for second spot in the group and are available at 11/4 with stanjames to come away with all three points. The in form striker Marco Streller is on offer at 13/2 with SkyBet to open the scoring and 2/1 to score at any time during the match. With both teams knowing the importance of this match, the game could develop in to a tight affair with both not being able to afford a defeat, with this in mind BetVictor offer odds of 23/20 for there to be under 2.5 goals in the game.

Liverpool have been struggling recently, especially to keep clean sheets and although the reds will want to come away with a win, a draw will not be a bad result and this can be backed at 13/5 with bet365. With the fitness of Daniel Sturridge being monitored right up until the start of the game it`s difficult to predict who will be starting up-front for Liverpool, therefore set-piece taker Steven Gerrard could be a good bet at 10/3 with bet365 to score at any time during the game. Given the pressure will be on the home team Basel to win the game, especially after the defeat to Real Madrid, this could suit Liverpool`s counter attacking style of play and the 17/2 being offered by BetVictor for Liverpool to win the game 2-1 is tempting. Having said that, Basel have conceded 5 goals in both of their last two Champions League games and may be reluctant to open the game up too much.

Despite both teams hoping to improve defensively and the possibility of this leading to a low scoring game, history suggests that Liverpool do not play many games against Swiss opposition that end in low scoring affairs. Indeed, in the 2002/03 Champions League group stage, Liverpool came back from a 3 goal deficit to come away from Basel with a point and a repeat of this 3-3 draw can be backed this time with betfred at 50/1.

Liverpool are currently priced at 28/1 with Coral to win the Champions League this season, with Basel on offer at 500/1 with the same firm.

Go To bet365

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30/09/2014     © Frixo 2024