Liverpool had suffered six defeats in seven matches across all competitions before bouncing back with a much-improved 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at the weekend \u2014 a result that provided a crucial lift in confidence ahead of Xabi Alonso\u2019s side\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n
Real Madrid, meanwhile, have been in formidable form this season, winning 13 of their 14 matches and netting 34 goals, with more than half coming from the in-form Kylian Mbappe.<\/p>\n
Nicol\u2019s Liverpool vs Real Madrid Prediction<\/p>\n
Speaking on ESPN FC, former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol previewed the game and explained what his old club must do to stand a chance against the 15-time European champions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any doubt \u2013 Real Madrid are favourites, regardless of whether it\u2019s at Anfield or not,\u201d Nicol said. \u201cWith the way they\u2019re playing and the way Liverpool are playing, it\u2019s clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I want to see is a proper performance \u2014 I want the front line to be sharp, direct and make smarter decisions. But most importantly, the back four need to be compact and united because they\u2019ll be tested by Madrid\u2019s attack, especially Mbappe. For me, it\u2019s all about the performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pressed for a scoreline, Nicol predicted a 2-1 win for Real Madrid, adding: \u201cYou can only judge based on current form, and right now Madrid are a much better team. Liverpool might draw some strength from being at home, but they\u2019ve been well below par defensively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anfield Could Still Make a Difference<\/p>\n
When Madrid last visited Anfield, Liverpool were flying \u2014 unbeaten in seven games and playing some of their best football of that campaign.<\/p>\n
This time, despite the morale-boosting Villa win, Arne Slot\u2019s men are not in the same strong position, and form-wise, Alonso\u2019s Madrid are clear favourites.<\/p>\n
Even so, few atmospheres in world football can match Anfield on a European night, and that intangible energy could once again push Liverpool to raise their game.<\/p>\n
To stand any chance, the Reds\u2019 defence must be at its absolute best against Mbappe, who won\u2019t have fond memories of this ground after missing a penalty and being upended by Conor Bradley during his last visit in November.<\/p>\n
While Nicol doesn\u2019t hold out much hope for Liverpool, there\u2019s every reason to believe the Merseysiders can rise to the challenge and earn a hard-fought draw \u2014 a result that would build confidence ahead of next weekend\u2019s clash with Manchester City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liverpool had suffered six defeats in seven matches across all competitions before bouncing back with a much-improved 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at the weekend \u2014 a result that provided a crucial lift in confidence ahead of Xabi Alonso\u2019s side\u2019s visit. Real Madrid, meanwhile, have been in formidable form this season, winning 13 of their …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":53604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/nicol-liverpool-madrid-1200x674.jpg.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53606"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53607,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53606\/revisions\/53607"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}