Meanwhile, Porto will be hoping that their Cameroon hitman Vincent Aboubakar is deemed fit to face Liverpool.
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Joe Gomez will be assessed tomorrow ahead of the game after recovering from injury but Klopp has hinted the youngster will be available.
Their progression in Europe was understated due to their group containing no established European giant, but with the French champions, Besiktas and RB Leipzig, it was arguably this year’s most competitive group. It took seconds, Liverpool flying down the pitch on the kind of counter Liverpool fans haven’t seen much since Pepe Reina was between the sticks.
But off the back of a comfortable 2-0 weekend win over the Saints, and with their Champions League clash with Porto coming up on Wednesday, Karius believes that the 26-year-old Dutch global is starting to hit his stride.
We’re approaching six years since Africa produced a Champions League victor, but with a swathe of continental stars still in the running in this year’s tournament, will that run end this year?
In midfield, Emre Can is unavailable as he serves a one-match suspension after accumulating three yellow cards in the group stage.
He said: “I am feeling good and getting consistent game time helps a lot”.
Wednesday’s game at the Estadio do Dragao will be Liverpool’s first match in the knockout stages of the competition since 2008-09.
Aboubakar was the catalyst behind Porto’s last 16 spot in the competition with five strikes in the group stages. Porto have now won their last eight consecutive home appearance. However, his regular partner Felipe is suspended.
Although he’ll play no part on Wednesday – or anytime soon – Reds fullback Nathaniel Clyne make the journey to the continent after rejoining his teammates in full training earlier this week.
The Reds are favourites for a win at their best odds of 11/8 at Betfred.
“Now we’re going to focus on Porto, analyse them and we can see what are their strengths and their weaknesses”. Resounding wins over Spartak and Maribor were impressive, but Porto will take confidence from the performances against Sevilla.
A 1-1 draw is the most likely result in the betting market at the best odds of 13/2 at William Hill. Somewhat bizarrely, given Liverpool ae favourites to win the game, him and Moussa Marega are the favourites in the to score market at 7/4.
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We expect at least three goals in the game, and we are backing over 2.5 goals in the game as our prediction.
