The UEFA Champions League knockout stages made their return last week with four last 16 ties taking place over Tuesday and Wednesday. The rest of the first legs will be played this week and arguably the biggest of those sees Bayern travel to Anfield to face Liverpool.

STATS

• This season is potentially the closest Liverpool are going to come to their first Premier League title as they are challenging Manchester City at the top of the table. However, they must balance it with a European run and they weren’t convincing in the groups, squeezing through on goals scored. They picked up just nine points in their six matches.
• Bayern looked for large parts as though they would lose their streak as German champions but Borussia Dortmund have wavered in recent weeks, leaving the door open for the giants to capitalise. They stayed unbeaten during their group stage with four wins and two draws, leading them to top spot ahead of Ajax.
• Liverpool’s usually prolific frontline wasn’t as strong as normal in the groups but Mo Salah was still their leading scorer with three goals.
• Robert Lewandowski, on the other hand, was in fantastic form in the group and he is currently the competition’s top goalscorer with eight in just six matches.

HEAD TO HEAD

The two sides have only met once this side of the 21^st century and it came back in 2001 where Liverpool won 3-2 in the UEFA Super Cup after going 3-0 up inside 50 minutes. They have lost once in their eight meetings with Bayern with three wins and four draws.

LIVERPOOL NEWS

The big news for the home side is the absence of Virgil van Dijk following his yellow card suspension from the group stage. Joe Gomez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are still unavailable while Dejan Lovren and Roberto Firmino are doubtful.

Latest matches: Liverpool FC

09.02.2019	Prem	Liverpool FC	Bournemouth AFC	3:0	W
04.02.2019	Prem	West Ham United	Liverpool FC	1:1	D
30.01.2019	Prem	Liverpool FC	Leicester City	1:1	D
19.01.2019	Prem	Liverpool FC	Crystal Palace	4:3	W
12.01.2019	Prem	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	Liverpool FC	0:1	W

BAYERN NEWS

The visitors have a defensive problem of their own as Jerome Boateng will miss the first leg. He joins Arjen Robben and Corentin Tolisso on the injury bed as Thomas Muller is suspended for his horrible tackle in the game against Ajax.

Latest matches: Bayern Munich

15.02.2019	Bund	FC Augsburg	Bayern Munich	2:3	W
09.02.2019	Bund	Bayern Munich	FC Schalke 04	3:1	W
06.02.2019	DFB	Hertha BSC	Bayern Munich	2:3	W
02.02.2019	Bund	Bayer Leverkusen	Bayern Munich	3:1	L
27.01.2019	Bund	Bayern Munich	VfB Stuttgart	4:1	W

SUMMARY

It’s hard to predict a winner in this one as the hosts will obviously prioritise their title push in the league. They’ll struggle to keep a clean sheet without van Dijk and a score draw seems very likely due to both sides missing key players. Lewandowski sometimes struggles on the big stage but I’d expect his prolific form in Europe to continue against the Reds on Tuesday night.