Liverpool vs Benfica: UCL Quarter-final Second Leg Match Preview, Predicted Line-ups and Dream11 Predictions

Liverpool vs Benfica is the next second leg match in this year's UEFA Champions League with Benfica travelling to Anfield to face Liverpool and complete the impossible comeback.

Liverpool vs Benfica: Match Preview:

Jurgen Klopp's side lead the quarter-final tie 3-1 after goals from Ibrahima Konate, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz in Lisbon last week.

The Portuguese team can hope for a similarly tricky night for Liverpool that Inter Milan provided from a similar position in the last round, leading to the Reds scraping through by a single goal.

And Benfica have already shocked Barcelona and Ajax in this year's competition – although this Liverpool team are something of a different proposition.

Team News:

Liverpool:

Despite their unrelenting period of fixtures, Jurgen Klopp is working with a fully-fit squad at present, with the head injury that Fabinho sustained in the first leg not serious enough to rule him out of contention against Man City.

Takumi Minamino, Harvey Elliott, Divock Origi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were all left out of the squad for Sunday amid Klopp's wealth of options, and Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota would miss the first leg of the semi-final if they are booked here.

With both players also featuring from the off – and scoring – at the Etihad, Klopp may elect to bring Roberto Firmino and Luis Diaz back into the XI alongside Mohamed Salah, who needs one more goal to overtake Steven Gerrard as Liverpool's record goalscorer at Anfield in the Champions League with 15.

Benfica:

Benfica are also working with the majority of their big-hitters barring cruciate ligament victim Lucas Verissimo, who remains out of contention for the long-term alongside striker Rodrigo Pinho, and Rafa Silva.

The Benfica boss will also have Jan Vertonghen back at his disposal following a domestic ban, and the ex-Tottenham Hotspur man should take his rightful spot in defence alongside Nicolas Otamendi.

After handing rests to several of his established players at the weekend, Verissimo should recall the likes of Gilberto, Alex Grimaldo, Julian Weigl and Goncalo Ramos to the first XI at Anfield.

Liverpool vs Benfica: Head to Head:

In three head-to-head encounters between the two sides, Liverpool have won two games and lost one.

The two clubs faced each other in the reverse leg, with Liverpool beating Benfica 3-1. Goals from French centre-back Ibrahima Konate, Senegal international Sadio Mane and Colombian winger Luis Diaz secured the win for Liverpool. Former Almeria striker Darwin Nunez scored the goal for Benfica.

Recent performances in all competitions:

Liverpool:

2-0 win over Arsenal

1-0 win over Nottingham Forest

2-0 win over Watford

3-1 win over Benfica

2-2 draw against Manchester City

Benfica:

1-0 win over Ajax

2-1 win over Estoril Praia

3-2 loss against Braga SC

3-1 loss against Liverpool

1-0 win over Belenenses SAD

Liverpool vs Benfica: Predicted Line-ups:

Liverpool Predicted XI (4-3-3): Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Thiago Alcantara, Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz

Benfica Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Odysseas Vlachodimos, Diogo Goncalves, Nicolas Otamendi, Jan Vertonghen, Alex Grimaldo, Julian Weigl, Soualiho Meite, Rafa Silva, Roman Yaremchuk, Everton Cebolinha, Darwin Nunez

LIV vs BEN: Dream11 Predictions: