The Champions League will resume with the direct elimination stage during the second week of February. Liverpool will visit Porto, the first comes with the second best goals scored in the group stages with 23 in total while Porto conceded 10 by getting hammered in a couple of games and qualified second in their group.

Historically, Liverpool has managed a slight advantage against Porto with two draws playing away in Portugal and 2 wins as locals. This first match will be their away game but there are reasons to believe this time they will win.

The Porto team that Liverpool faced over 10 years ago was a strong solid club with super stars in their squad. This season the team is reaching a low with a weak defense and depending too much in one or two players. Vincent Aboubakar is a great striker with 5 goals to his name of the total 15 scored so far. But another key player, Danilo, has been recently injured during the semifinals of the domestic league against Benfica. Danilo will be out for almost a month and will not be present for the first Champions League clash.

Add to that losing the semifinal in penalty kicks against their arch-rivals, Porto’s mood and confidence must be through the floor right now.

On the other hand Liverpool isn’t doing so great either, but finds itself in a better shape. They recently lost to Swansey in the Premier League, a surprising outcome that does not relate to the powerful game playing they have shown in the international arena. But that has been the constant for Liverpool all season, reserving their best performance for the Champion’s and being a bit too careless in the local league. Checkout their latest Premier League outright odds available at Williamhill.

Mohammed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino all conform a powerful attack that can easily overcome Porto’s flailing defense. The key in the away game will be ball possession and exploiting the stress and public pressure over their rival. It is expected for Porto to play furiously which can lead to erratic play. If Liverpool can exploit this instead of getting affected by the distress, they can take an easy 0-1 or 0-2 win home.

Liverpool is also in the midst of adding new players to their squad, with Trent Alexander Arnold and Ragnar Klavan joining the club in the following days. Jordan Henderson and Alberto Moreno are both injured and could be out for the away game. Dominic Solanke and Mohamen Salah are recovered and will be joining the main team in domestic clashes very soon. Roberto Firmino is expected to be rested for domestic clashes to preserve him for the Champion’s game.

Punters predict an easy Liverpool win in the away game, despite having no history of doing so. Some are even recommending the 2.5 totals score, but we remain cautious. Trends tell us Liverpool is sloppy at this stage of an international tournament, they will not want to risk too much. On the other hand Porto will play with all they have in what could the second last game of the season for them. There will be a lot of pressure from fans, media and manager to win the match. Liverpool must know this and will likely hold back most of their players while they test their rival’s strength.

A draw is the most likely outcome with an Under score of 2.5. If you think Liverpool can manage a win, then go for a minimum one goal correct score.