Hoffenheim Scouting Report: Liverpool can’t afford any complacency
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Liverpool have only enjoyed Champions League football in one of the last seven seasons and now a play-off is all that stands between them and a return to Europe’s biggest club competition.
The Reds have been drawn against Hoffenheim, who are arguably the toughest of the five opponents they could have faced.
Liverpool are slight favourites at 11/8 to win the first leg next Tuesday, while Hoffenheim are 9/5 to win in their first ever Champions League fixture. A draw is at 9/4.
The Bundesliga side enjoyed a remarkable rise from 15th in 2015-16 to a top-four finish last season.
Bayern Munich were the only side to concede less goals in league action last season, though the Bavarian giants have swooped to sign Niklas Sule and Sebastian Rudy.
They still have Benjamin Hubner at the back though and Harvard Nordveit will be looking to get his career back on track following his move from West Ham.
They can cause real problems going forward too. Kerem Demirbay is the spark for much of their attacking play and he’ll need to be watched carefully.
Andrej Kramaric didn’t make much impact at Leicester City but his strike partnership with Sandro Wagner produced 26 league goals between them last term.
Serge Gnabry’s pace and trickery earned him a move to Bayern this summer, and the former Arsenal winger will be eager to impress while on loan at Hoffenheim too.
There could be value in both sides to score and Liverpool to win at 3/1, but we expect there’ll still be plenty to play for when the second leg comes around.
Click here for the latest Hoffenheim v Liverpool odds.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
