⛅️ UCL Forecast: Final rematch, City slickers, Napoli upset? | OneFootball

After last week provided plenty of talking points, the second set of Champions League round of 16 ties kick off on Tuesday!

Here’s what to look out for.

💪 Game of the week

Liverpool v Real Madrid

A rematch of last season’s final that … doesn’t really feel like one? With Liverpool eighth in the Premier League and Real Madrid eight points behind Barcelona in LaLiga, the blockbuster feeling has been lost a little.

Surely the atmosphere at Anfield will transport us away from those domestic wobbles and back into a world where these are the crème de la crème in time for kick-off?

Liverpool in particular will be . League form means nothing in a knockout competition and the Reds’ mood has been lifted by back-to-back wins against Everton and Newcastle.

Those wins have seen Cody Gakpo score his first goals for the club and the encouragement for fans doesn’t end there, with Mo Salah showing signs of his best, Darwin Núñez finding the net, Stefan Bajcetic emerging in midfield and Virgil van Dijk returning to action.

With all that, and the chance to take on the role of the underdog, Liverpool may just be quietly confident of a positive result at Anfield to take to Madrid for the second leg against the kings of the competition.

📊 Fun fact: Liverpool are winless in six games against Real Madrid, losing five, while Real Madrid have won just one of their last seven Champions League games in England.

🔮 Our prediction: Liverpool 1-1 Real Madrid

🤔 Too close to call

RB Leipzig v Manchester City

It is hard to know exactly what Manchester City will turn up this season. Even when they look like they are on their game and completely dominant, they seem to lack a clinical edge, as Nottingham Forest took advantage of at the weekend.

City are still more than capable of dominating games but they are not the same formidable force they have been in recent seasons. Maybe that changes in the Champions League, though, where they still have something to prove?

That will be the hope for Pep Guardiola, who continues to use Bernardo Silva as a makeshift left-back. That will be the area the likes of Timo Werner and fit-again Christopher Nkunku will look to exploit in Germany.

Marco Rose’s Dortmund side gave City two good games last season, losing both fixtures by a single goal, and his Leipzig outfit look more stable. Since Rose’s appointment in September, no team has picked up more points in the Bundesliga. This will be a real test for the Citizens.

📊 Fun fact: There were 12 goals across the two games when the sides met last season.

🔮 Our prediction: RB Leipzig 1-2 Man City

😨 Potential upset

Eintracht Frankfurt v Napoli

For years now, Eintracht Frankfurt have been formidable in European home games. Just ask Lazio, Marseille, Olympiakos, Fenerbahça, Barcelona, Real Betis, West Ham, Tottenham. They are just some of the teams who have visited Frankfurt in Europe since 2018 and failed to win.

There has been huge squad turnover in that time but Oliver Glasner, who led the team to the Europa League last season in his first campaign in charge, has found a winning formula with an organised back five allowing the likes of Daichi Kamada, Mario Götze, Jesper Lindstrøm and Randal Kolo Muani to flourish up ahead.

But can they do it against Europe’s most in-form team and the competition’s dark horses?

Nobody has figured out a way to stop Napoli yet this season as they have strolled to a 15-point lead at the top of Serie A and dominated a Champions League group containing Liverpool, Ajax and Rangers to score 20 times in six games.

The incredible pair of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (12 goals, 12 assists across Serie A and Europe this season) and Victor Osimhen (19 goals, three assists) look unstoppable in attack and nobody has figured out how to handle them just yet. With those two in top form Napoli will head into the game as favourites, but they can not take this one lightly.

📊 Fun fact: Eintracht Frankfurt will be the 11th German club to play in a Champions League knockout game, more than from any other country (10 from Spain).

🔮 Our prediction: Frankfurt 1-1 Napoli

🤩 Star man

Romelu Lukaku (Inter)

Inter are aiming to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2011 and will be hoping to get off to a perfect start as they host Porto on Wednesday.

So it is not a bad time for Romelu Lukaku to be back and back scoring.

The striker made just his third Serie A start since August at the weekend and ended a 189-day wait for a Serie A goal.

The Belgian does have one in the Champions League this season too and, whether it’s as a starter or from the bench, Inter will hope he can take some of the burden off of Edin Džeko and rekindle his partnership with Lautaro Martínez against a very in-form Porto side.