Preview: Liverpool vs Qarabag FK - prediction, team news, lineups

One win away from a Champions League last-16 place, Liverpool welcome Qarabag FK to their Anfield home in Wednesday's league-phase finale.

The Reds eased past Marseille 3-0 in their most recent European affair, while their visitors kept their playoff hopes alive by downing Eintracht Frankfurt in a five-goal thriller.

Match preview

Liverpool's well-documented domestic plight has not always translated into disastrous Champions League results - Galatasaray and PSV Eindhoven aside - and Arne Slot's men are in the driving seat for an automatic last-16 place.

The reigning Premier League champions were tipped to face a stern test against a goal-happy Marseille side, but it was the Reds who taught Roberto De Zerbi's men an attacking lesson at the Orange Velodrome, where Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo struck either side of a Geronimo Rulli own goal.

Revelling in their fourth win from five Champions League games, fourth-placed Liverpool are two points clear of ninth-placed Barcelona, and an anticipated victory on Wednesday night will see the hosts bypass the playoff stage and progress straight to the last 16.

Few home fans will need reminding of how the last Anfield Champions League affair went down, but Liverpool had won a staggering 16 straight UEFA league phase/group-stage games on their own turf before PSV's pummelling, which also represents one of just three losses from their last 20 UCL games at this stage.

However, Arne Slot's crop agonisingly lost their 13-game unbeaten run in Saturday's 3-2 Premier League reverse to Bournemouth, which left the Reds still searching for their first top-flight win of 2026 and reignited the debate surrounding the manager's future.

As Liverpool seek the win that will pave the way to the last 16, unfancied visitors Qarabag harbour knockout dreams of their own, having achieved a handful of notable results against esteemed opposition in the league phase.

The 12-time Azerbaijani champions have never progressed past the group stage of a UCL campaign before - their first and only previous adventure in 2017-18 ended at the first hurdle - but they are well-placed to reach the playoffs this time around, seeded or not.

Qurban Qurbanov's men stunned 2022 Europa League winners Frankfurt 3-2 on matchday seven to move onto 10 points - good enough for 18th place in the 36-team table - and they sit two clear of Napoli outside the knockout berths.

Nothing is guaranteed for Qarabag at this stage, but even an expected loss on Wednesday may not prove fatal if results elsewhere go their way, and history suggests that they will need them to.

Indeed, the visitors have failed to win any of their eight previous meetings with English teams in UEFA tournaments - losing seven of them - and they were stunned 2-0 at home by Kapaz in the weekend's top-flight match.

However, Qurbanov made a full 11 changes for that contest with Liverpool in mind, as Qarabag aim for just their second-ever positive result against a Premier League side two months on from their first - a 2-2 stalemate with Chelsea.

Liverpool Champions League form:

Liverpool form (all competitions):

Qarabag FK Champions League form:

Qarabag FK form (all competitions):

Team News

Liverpool were down to the bare bones at the back against Bournemouth owing to Joe Gomez's injury, which came out when the defender collided with goalkeeper Alisson Becker just before Evanilson drew first blood.

Gomez's status for Wednesday remains unclear, but the fact that the Englishman suffered a possible head injury means he should be spared against Qarabag, especially if Ibrahima Konate returns following the death of his father.

Giovanni Leoni (ACL), Alexander Isak (leg) and Conor Bradley (knee) remain on the sidelines for Liverpool, who are also sweating over Federico Chiesa's fitness after the Italian missed out against Marseille and Bournemouth with a knock.

On a brighter note, Liverpool have reportedly pulled the plug on Andrew Robertson's proposed move to Tottenham Hotspur, and the Scotsman should be among a few changes for the hosts in midweek.

As for the visitors, Brazilian playmaker Kady Borges is on the sidelines with an unspecified injury, while striker Ramil Sheydayev is ineligible, but Qurbanov is otherwise working with a fully-fit and available squad.

After making a full 11 changes at the weekend, the 53-year-old should revert to the lineup that stunned Frankfurt last week, with Colombian striker Camilo Duran - who notched a brace on the night - leading the line.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:

Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Jones, Endo; Gakpo, Mac Allister, Ngumoha; Ekitike

Qarabag FK possible starting lineup:

Kochalski; Silva, Mustafazada, Medina, Cafarquliyev; Jankovic, Bicalho; Andrade, Montiel, Zoubir; Duran

We say: Liverpool 3-1 Qarabag FK

Qarabag are no pushovers in the Champions League - as Chelsea recently discovered - and the visitors have scored at least twice in eight of their last 10 UEFA competition games.

However, the Azerbaijani side should be restricted to a consolation goal at Anfield, where a rotated Liverpool team ought to flex their attacking muscles to stroll into the last 16.

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