Liverpool v Bayer Leverkusen Tips: Goals to celebrate Xabi Alonso's return | OneFootball

UEFA Champions League

Xabi Alonso will be centre of attention on Tuesday night at Anfield

Liverpool come up against a figure from their past on Tuesday night at Anfield, and Kevin Hatchard believes he'll be involved in an entertaining clash.

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Liverpool v Bayer LeverkusenTuesday 05 November, 20:00

Brighton win showed the good and the bad of Liverpool

Liverpool's comeback win over Brighton on Saturday, coupled with Manchester City's 2-1 reverse at Bournemouth, put Arne Slot's Reds two points clear at the top of the Premier League with ten matchdays gone. Liverpool have already got trips to Manchester United and Arsenal out of the way, and they have seen off Chelsea at Anfield.

The next five league games include home matches against Aston Villa and Manchester City, as well as away trips to Newcastle and Everton. If Liverpool are still top after that lot, then they may well nudge ahead of Manchester City in the odds in the Premier League Winner market. City are currently 2.76 on the Exchange, with Liverpool 2.9.

However, that win over Brighton (a game that saw Liverpool come from behind and score two goals in three minutes), also showed there is still plenty of work to do. Slot's side could conceivably have been two or three goals down at half-time, before he made tactical tweaks and the team upped the intensity. That's not the first time Liverpool have had to turn a game around this term, but Slot is consistently showing he has the tactical chops to alter the flow of a game.

In the Champions League, Liverpool have won all three of their games. They recovered from a poor start in Milan, continuing the comeback theme with a 3-1 win. They gave up some chances in a 2-0 home win against Bologna, and Caoimhin Kelleher had to make some outstanding saves in a 1-0 victory at RB Leipzig. Indeed, Kelleher continues to be a superb deputy for the injured Alisson: he has positive post-shot xG figures in the Premier League and the Champions League, which basically means he's conceding fewer goals than the data says he should be.

Centre-back Ibrahima Konate's wrist injury that saw him withdrawn during the Brighton game isn't as serious as was first feared, although Joe Gomez did a fantastic job in his absence. Harvey Elliott, Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa are all still out.

For some Reds fans, Xabi Alonso will be in the wrong dugout

There's no doubt that Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso - who won the Champions League as a Liverpool player - was on the Reds' list to replace Jürgen Klopp at Anfield. However, having led the German side to an unprecedented unbeaten league and cup double, the Basque boss felt he still had unfinished business at the BayArena, so he stayed put.

There's no doubt that he and his players are finding this season much trickier than last. They have only lost one competitive game all season, but they are being held to draws far more often than they would like, and they are dropping points in different ways. At Werder Bremen in their last away game they were sloppy defensively and twice coughed up the lead (including a 90th-minute leveller), while on Friday night they blew a ton of chances in a goalless draw with Stuttgart.

However, the return to the Champions League for Die Werkself is going well. A 4-0 win at Feyenoord was a statement, as was a dominant display in a 1-0 win over Milan. Had Bayer not been denied a clear penalty in the closing stages of their 1-1 draw at Brest, they might have a 100% record.

Nordi Mukiele, Amine Adli and Jeanuel Belocian are all out injured, but Martin Terrier should be available after missing Friday. Victor Boniface is likely to get the nod ahead of Patrik Schick at centre-forward.

Look for goals and speedy Frimpong to come alive

Leverkusen have already conceded 15 Bundesliga goals in nine matches, having leaked just 24 in the whole of last season. They simply aren't defending with the same intensity as last term, and they aren't controlling games in the same way either.

That said, there's enough firepower to suggest that Bayer can score at Anfield. Florian Wirtz remains one of the most exciting young playmakers in the game, Boniface already has eight goals in all competitions, and the speed of Jeremie Frimpong gets him into some excellent positions.

With Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson not quite at his best this season, I'm willing to back Frimpong to have at least two shots here as part of a 9/4 Bet Builder, with BTTS and Over 2.5 Goals included.

Frimpong had one of Bayer's best chances to score on Friday, but put his close-range header wide, and in the first half against Stuttgart he tested visiting keeper Alexander Nübel with an early drive.

The Dutch international has had a slow start to the season, so there isn't much recent evidence to back him to have two or more goal attempts here, but in 31 Bundesliga games last term he had 2+ shots on 18 occasions, and in the cup competitions it was nine games out of 16. Although Frimpong was frustrated by his inability to score on Friday, he looked back to his best in most aspects.

If for whatever reason Frimpong doesn't start, throw in Boniface to have a shot on target instead, which gives you a price of 2.35. The Nigerian has had at least one shot on target in seven of his last eight starts.

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