Liverpool vs Qarabag Prediction: Will Reds Secure Top-Eight Finish? ...Middle East

We look ahead to Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League game at Anfield with our Liverpool vs Qarabag prediction and preview. Can the Azerbaijan side cause an upset?

Liverpool vs Qarabag: The Key Stats

Welcome to European football’s day of ultimate chaos, the final matchday in the UEFA Champions League league phase. Only four teams have been eliminated, meaning there are no dead rubbers.

One match of interest from both a top eight and play-off qualification perspective is Liverpool’s home game with Qarabag.

The Reds are fourth in the table on 15 points. As they are overwhelming favourites to win this match, Opta’s predicted Champions League table has them finishing third in the standings.

Qarabag start the day in 18th position with 10 points. With clubs of the standard of Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco directly behind them, it would not be a surprise if they slipped down the table. The Opta prediction is for them to finish 20th, which would still see them reach the play-offs.

There are not any omens that suggest the visitors can win to improve their position. Qarabag lost seven of their first eight meetings with English sides in Europe, but they did avoid defeat in the most recent one. They drew 2-2 against Chelsea on MD4 this season, though they enjoyed home advantage that night.

Qarabag have played four matches away from home against English sides, losing all four by an aggregate score of 13-1. Their chances of turning this woeful record around are not aided by facing a team and manager who have worked well together in Europe.

Since Arne Slot took charge of Liverpool in 2024, the Reds are the team with the highest win percentage in the Champions League (76.5%), winning 13 of their 17 European games under the Dutchman. The other four matches were all lost, though one was meaningless to them in this gameweek last season. Another was against Paris Saint-Germain after they had won the first leg of their tie, which took the game to extra-time and penalties.

If there is hope for Qarabag, the only Champions League loss by more than one goal suffered by Slot’s Reds occurred in their previous European match at Anfield. PSV were the victors, shocking the home crowd by thumping Liverpool 4-1. However, across 117 home games in the European Cup/Champions League, the Reds have only lost consecutive matches on one previous occasion: 2-1 losses against Lyon and Fiorentina in 2009.

Given the standard of opposition, Mohamed Salah will hope to net the goals required to move in to the top 10 scorers in the entire history of this competition. It is Dominik Szoboszlai who has been Slot’s key man in the Champions League in 2025-26 though.

As well as having the most goals and goal involvements for Liverpool in Europe this season (4 goals, 3 assists), the Hungarian also ranks first for chances created (18), possession won (47), progressive carries (62) and line-breaking passes in the final third (39).

The Reds need Virgil van Dijk to deliver a better performance than in the 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday. The captain has won 24/28 aerial duels in the Champions League this season, with his aerial success rate being the highest of any player with 15+ contested (86%).

Liverpool’s Struggles

Five Wins in 18 Premier League Games: Liverpool Have Been Struggling for Almost Half a Season

Slot is unlikely to make too many changes to his starting XI. Joe Gomez went off injured at the Vitality Stadium so is a doubt, but long-term absentees Conor Bradley, Alexander Isak and Giovanni Leoni will miss out, while Ibrahima Konaté appears to still be on compassionate leave after being absent from training on Tuesday, which would leave Van Dijk as Liverpool’s only available centre-back. Wataru Endo is likeliest to fill in after he, eventually, replaced Gomez on Saturday.

Liverpool should at least be able to prepare well for their opponents. Qarabag have named fewer starting XI changes (five) than any other side in the Champions League this season. They haven’t made more than one change to their XI in any of their seven matches this term either.

They will look towards Camilo Durán, who has been directly involved in five goals in the competition this season. His four goals in 2025-26 are twice as many as Qarabag scored as a team in their previous Champions League campaign in 2017-18. Manager Gurban Gurbanov will have close to his full squad available, with only Kady Borges (injury) and Ramil Sheydayev (ineligible) likely absentees.

Qarabag have proven very resilient in Europe in 2025-26. They have won the joint-most points from losing positions in the Champions League this season (seven, level with Barcelona). This includes coming from behind to win 3-2 against Eintracht Frankfurt in their most recent game in the competition. They will need to display this fighting spirit if they are to avoid defeat at Anfield.

Liverpool vs Qarabag Head-to-Head

These teams have never met before. All three previous meetings between sides from England and Azerbaijan in the UEFA Champions League have been between Qarabag and Chelsea (with two wins for Chelsea, one draw).

One of those clashes was earlier this season. Both teams led in a match at the Tofik Bakhramov Stadium in November before it ended 2-2. Qarabag’s only prior trip to England in this competition saw them lose 6-0 at Stamford Bridge in 2017.

Liverpool vs Qarabag Prediction

The Opta supercomputer will be proved very wrong if Liverpool don’t win this match.

The Reds were victorious in 79.6% of the 10,000 simulations of the fixture. Only Arsenal (vs Kairat) are stronger favourites in a Champions League match this week (85.4%).

There is a 12.4% likelihood of a draw with Qarabag’s hopes of an implausible victory pegged at just 8.0%. It would be quite the upset of the visitors can pull it off.

Liverpool vs Qarabag Predicted Lineups

Liverpool: Alisson Becker, Jeremie Frimpong, Wataru Endo, Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz, Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitiké.

Head coach: Arne Slot

Qarabağ: Mateusz Kochalski, Matheus Silva, Bahlul Mustafazada, Kevin Medina, Elvin Cafarquliyev, Pedro Bicalho, Marko Jankovic, Leandro Andrade, Joni Montiel, Abdellah Zoubir, Camilo Durán.

Head coach: Gurban Gurbanov

Opta Power Rankings

The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system. They assign an ability score to over 15,000 domestic football teams. This score is on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.

Ahead of kick-off on Wednesday, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.

Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over on X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

Liverpool vs Qarabag Prediction: Will Reds Secure Top-Eight Finish? Opta Analyst.

Hence then, the article about liverpool vs qarabag prediction will reds secure top eight finish was published today ( Tuesday 27/01/2026 - 05:51 PM ) and is available on The Analyst ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Liverpool vs Qarabag Prediction: Will Reds Secure Top-Eight Finish? )

Also on site :

• Nokia Strengthens Edge AI Capabilities Through Strategic Collaboration with Blaize on Hybrid Inference Solutions Across Asia Pacific Regions
• The deepfake threat is reshaping global politics
• Numbrix 9 - January 27