Champions League Soccer: Genk at Liverpool

By BetOnline November 5, 2019

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Champions League Group E action on Tuesday as Liverpool welcomes Belgian First Division A team KRC Genk to Anfield. Unfortunately for the visitors, they’ll probably find their hosts to be extremely inhospitable. These teams played at the Luminus Arena in Belgium on October 23 with Liverpool winning easily by a 4-1 margin. The current English Premier League leaders are still a point back of Napoli in the Group E standings but they’ve all but locked up qualification for the Final 16.

Genk, meanwhile, is all but certain to not advance to the knockout stages. They’ve performed horribly in group play with 2 losses and a draw which has them at the bottom of the table with a single point. They won’t be moving on in the Champions League and their play has been so abysmal that they won’t qualify for Europa League play after they’re eliminated. Genk won the First Division A title last season but they’re well off that pace this year. After 13 games in their national league Genk is 6-2-5 with 20 points which leaves them 13 points back of top of the table Club Brugge and 7 back of second place Standard Liege. They’re winless on the road in league play with a record of 0-4-2 scoring 7 goals and conceding 12. Given their shabby performance in First Division A away games there’s little to suggest that they’ll be competitive facing one of the best teams in the world on their home pitch.

Liverpool has won 8 of their last 10 in all competitions–the only exceptions being an opening game loss to Napoli in Champions League group play and a 2-2 draw with Manchester United in the Premiership. They had won 14 straight in all competitions at Anfield though last time out they settled for a 5-5 draw with Arsenal before advancing in League Cup play on penalty kicks. Liverpool has also been dominating in Champions League play at home winning 8 of their last 9.

Genk has won only 1 of their last 5 in all competitions going 1-3-1 and they’ve gone 0-1-4 in their last 5 away games. In three of the four away losses they allowed two or more goals. Their defense has been the issue in Belgian national league play and it’s definitely hurt them in the Champions League. In just 3 games, Genk has managed to blunder to a -7 goal differential! Liverpool did get sloppy in their previous home Champions League group game–they opened up a 3-0 lead over Salzburg but in the end had to scramble to secure a 4-3 win. Even if Liverpool switches up their lineup to keep some starters fresh for Sunday’s huge matchup here against Manchester City it really doesn’t matter. Liverpool wins in a rout.