Preview:Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid - prediction, team news, lineups

Merseyside meets Madrid once again in one of the headline fixtures of Champions League matchweek one, as Liverpool tackle Atletico Madrid at their Anfield headquarters.

The Reds have made an unblemished start to Premier League proceedings this season, while Diego Simeone's side have only just got off the mark in La Liga.

Match preview

Already no stranger to re-writing the history books since stepping into Jurgen Klopp's shoes, Liverpool boss Arne Slot set another English football record in the Reds' fourth Premier League match of the season, albeit one with both positive and negative connotations.

Not until the 95th minute did Liverpool break through a stubborn Burnley backline on Sunday, where the timeless Mohamed Salah was the hero from the penalty spot in a 1-0 victory, as the champions became the first-ever Premier League team to earn four straight triumphs thanks to winning goals in the final 10 minutes.

How long the Merseyside mammoths can keep prevailing thanks to last-gasp strikes remains to be seen, but the main statistic that matters for the holders is their perfect haul of 12 points from 12 on offer, seeing them cement first place in the Premier League rankings at this early stage.

Now swapping domestic duties for a continental contest, Liverpool have some European wrongs to right after last season's agonising last-16 exit to Paris Saint-Germain, although the Parisians' eventual run to glory meant that there was little shame in bowing out to the newly-crowned Champions League holders.

Furthermore, the hosts have come up trumps in each of their last 14 home games in UEFA competition - across both the Champions League and Europa League - while incredibly scoring two or more goals in the most recent 13 of those contests.

Renowned more for their defensive diligence than attacking excellence under the long-serving Simeone, Atletico head into Wednesday's game having kept clean sheets in 42% of their UCL games with the Argentine at the helm, the most for any Spanish team to play 50+ games in the competition under a single manager.

Los Rojiblancos' rearguard nous failed them during the early stages of the 2025-26 campaign, though, as the visitors to Anfield failed to win any of their opening three contests of the La Liga season, following up a 2-1 loss to Espanyol with 1-1 draws against Elche and Alaves.

However, the international break ostensibly came at the perfect time for Simeone's side, who made it fourth time lucky at home to Villarreal at the weekend, as Pablo Barrios and Nico Gonzalez found the net either side of the half-time whistle in a 2-0 home success.

Now competing in the Champions League for the 13th straight season, Atletico can take confidence from the fact that they have scored in 15 of their last 16 league phase/group stage games, as well as suffering defeat in just two of their last 15 matchweek one fixtures in the competition.

Los Rojiblancos also lost just one of their first six competitive meetings with Liverpool, but the Reds flipped the script with two group-stage wins during the 2021-22 Champions League, the start of four straight victories against Spanish sides in Europe's premier tournament for the hosts.

Liverpool form (all competitions):

Atletico Madrid form (all competitions):

Team News

Liverpool fans praying for an Alexander Isak debut against Burnley saw those calls fall on deaf ears, as the Swede was not considered for his Liverpool baptism by Slot, but the Dutchman has all but confirmed that the £125m striker will be in the squad on Wednesday.

A start is almost certainly out of the question for Isak, though, and the same could maybe be said for Alexis Mac Allister, who came off at half time against Burnley for load management reasons after receiving a crunching challenge from Lesley Ugochukwu.

Curtis Jones (unspecified) is also on the hosts' injury list, so Dominik Szoboszlai could revert from his successful right-back role to a deep-lying midfield position, allowing Jeremie Frimpong to return to the starting XI. Federico Chiesa, meanwhile, has been left out of Liverpool's league phase squad.

As for Atletico, Simeone suffered an in-game injury crisis against Villarreal as no fewer than four players were forced off in Julian Alvarez, Gonzalez, Robin Le Normand and David Hancko, the latter of whom was substituted after coming on a substitute.

However, only Alvarez is guaranteed to miss out from the quartet, although midfielder Johnny Cardoso is a new concern after spraining his ankle in training.

Jose Gimenez (calf), Alex Baena (adductor) and Thiago Almada (calf) are other absentees for Atletico, who should start Conor Gallagher on the left of a 4-4-2 if Gonzalez is not given the green light to feature from the off.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:

Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike

Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:

Oblak; Llorente, Le Normand, Lenglet, Ruggeri; Simeone, Barrios, Koke, Gonzalez; Griezmann, Sorloth

We say: Liverpool 1-0 Atletico Madrid

After suspect defending against Bournemouth and Newcastle United, Liverpool have tightened up at the back and then some, albeit at the cost of losing their way in attack.

However, an injury-hit Atletico side may not be best-placed to take advantage of the Reds' recent struggles to score from open play, and if there is to be one goal to separate the sides, it should go the way of the English champions.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.