Soccer followers throughout Europe should still be making an attempt to get their heads across the new Champions League format for this season, however the easy takeaway for Liverpool supporters is that this – we’re in a really wholesome place on the quarterway mark within the league part.
Holding monitor of a 36-team desk is a darn sight extra sophisticated than calculating the psychological arithmetic across the time-honoured construction of four-club teams, however for the Reds, the fundamental temporary is to easily deal with their very own enterprise and let the others fall in round them.
That’s precisely what Arne Slot’s aspect have finished up thus far, with victories over AC Milan and Bologna making them one among simply seven groups with a 100% document after two matches and placing them on track to qualify mechanically for the spherical of 16 (the complete standings may be seen right here).
The highest eight finishers will go on to that part of the event, with the groups ranked ninth to twenty fourth getting into a two-legged play-off spherical to affix the best-performing octet.
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Avoiding a further hurdle would clearly be useful to Liverpool not simply by way of swerving two added matches in what’s already a congested calendar, but in addition being exempted from one doubtlessly difficult tie in February.
Whereas the Reds can proudly boast two wins out of two within the Champions League thus far, the identical can’t be stated for Actual Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain, with these 4 heavyweights already overwhelmed as soon as within the competitors.
The latter two each succumbed to English opposition this week, with the Bavarian giants dropping to Aston Villa and PSG defeated by Arsenal, outcomes which have helped to strengthen LFC’s place as among the event favourites are already taking part in catch-up.
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Opta’s supercomputer has projected that 10 factors will seemingly be sufficient to a minimum of safe a play-off berth, with 16 nearly definitely enough to earn a direct passage to the spherical of 16 (Sky Sports activities).
Liverpool are already greater than midway in direction of the previous goal with solely 1 / 4 of the league part accomplished, and have six extra matches to earn the ten factors which realistically would see them keep away from an additional tie in February.
After all, Slot’s workforce nonetheless have some daunting fixtures forward of them. Their subsequent three Champions League video games deliver a visit to RB Leipzig, an Anfield conflict in opposition to Bundesliga kings Bayer Leverkusen and a gathering with outdated foes Actual Madrid, who to place it mildly have had the Indian signal over us for the previous decade.
Even 4 or 5 factors from these fixtures ought to nonetheless go away us in beneficial place to skip the play-off spherical, with Girona (away), Lille (away) and PSV Eindhoven (residence) to come back afterwards.
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Even when Liverpool safe a spot within the final 16 with a sport or two to spare, they’ll nonetheless wish to push for as many factors as doable, with every ending place inside the high eight figuring out their pathway for the whole lot of the knockout stage.
A minimum of if the Reds seal a top-eight end forward of time, it provides them a buffer to face up to a draw or defeat with none appreciable harm being finished.
There’s nonetheless some big obstacles to beat, in fact, however a minimum of LFC are able the place they’ve some room for error – partly due to Arsenal and Villa conquering two of the massive weapons, however primarily due to Slot’s workforce merely capitalising on what they’ll management.
