Liverpool vs Galatasaray: Preview, teams news, predictions as Victor Osimhen eyes Anfield upset

Anfield will host one of the most interesting matchups in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 clash between Galatasaray and Liverpool, Afrik Foot reports.

In his 100th match on the Liverpool bench, Manager Arne Slot suffered a second defeat to the Turkish Super Lig champions this season as Mario Lemina’s seventh-minute header settled the first leg in Istanbul.

Galatasaray arrive at Merseyside with a 1-0 aggregate lead, and will be without their supporters who were banned by UEFA following violent scenes in Turin during the play-off against Juventus.

Still, Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen is hungry to write another chapter in his extraordinary European campaign. His aim is simple: to put Galatasaray amongst the elite clubs on the continent with a brilliant run in the UEFA Champions League this season.

For Nigerian football fans, this match is unmissable. Osimhen, who already scored against Liverpool in the league phase in September, arrives at Anfield needing just one more goal to equal the all-time Champions League scoring record for a Turkish club in a single campaign. He has scored in seven of his nine appearances in this competition this season.

Anfield will be entirely behind Liverpool, but the Nigerian forward has shown all season that he does not need a friendly crowd to produce.

Match Preview: Liverpool vs. Galatasaray

Liverpool approach this second leg in a difficult domestic position. Slot had won 62 of his 99 games in charge of Liverpool before the first-leg defeat, yet the Premier League table tells a harsher story.

The Reds sit sixth with 49 points, well adrift of the pace they set in their title-winning campaign last season. A 1-1 draw at home to Tottenham on Saturday, in which Richarlison equalised in the closing minutes, cost further ground in the race for a top-four finish.

The Champions League is no longer simply an ambition; it is the only remaining route to salvaging what has been a poor season by the standards they set in the previous campaign.

Slot admitted the conversion problem has become a recurring theme. The atmosphere at Anfield, however, represents a genuine advantage.

Galatasaray’s supporters have been barred from travelling to Merseyside, meaning all 61,000 seats will be occupied exclusively by home fans. Slot was quick to point to the difference a home crowd makes:

“We have lost here twice with 1-0, and the good thing is the next game is not played here, but it is played at Anfield, and our fans can create a similar atmosphere.

“I think things will be more normal in a home game for us, and I also think we can improve our performance, and that, with the help of our fans, has to lead to a big game,” the Dutchman said in quotes revealed by Hayters.

Galatasaray arrive at Anfield in excellent form. The Turkish champions have won their last five matches across all competitions, and lead the Super Lig by seven points ahead of city rivals Fenerbahçe.

Playing without their own supporters is a handicap, as they’ve shown time and again in this season’s Champions League games.

Head to Head

This season, Galatasaray defeated Liverpool 1-0 in the league phase in September 2025 and repeated the scoreline in the first leg last week.

Both sides have met thrice since 2011, and the Turkish side have won all three games against the Merseysiders.

Team News

Liverpool

Liverpool will be without Conor Bradley (knee injury), Giovanni Leoni (knee injury), Stefan Bajčetić (hamstring) and Wataru Endo (ankle injury).

Giorgi Mamardashvili replaced Alisson Becker in the first leg due to an injury scare the former AS Roma goalkeeper suffered. However, he returned to action in Liverpool’s draw against Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend.

Alexander Isak suffered a fractured fibula last year, and while he’s not back in action yet, he’s been seen in training.

Key players like Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai are all available.

Predicted Liverpool line-up (4-2-3-1): Alisson Becker; Jeremie Frimpong, Ibrahim Konaté, Virgil Van Dijk, Milos Kerkez; Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister; Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz; Hugo Ekitike.

Galatasaray

Davinson Sánchez collected a yellow card late in the first leg and is suspended, a significant absence at the heart of a defence that held firm throughout the 90 minutes in Istanbul.

Enes Büyük is out with a shoulder injury, and Metehan Baltacı is suspended. Away from those three, Galatasaray have everyone else ready for their clash at Anfield

Predicted Galatasaray line-up (4-2-3-1): Ugurcan Çakır; Sacha Boey, Wilfred Singo, Abdulkerim Bardakçı, Ismail Jakobs; Lucas Torreira, Mario Lemina; Baris Asper Yılmaz, Gabriel Sara, Noa Lang; Victor Osimhen.

Key Players and Managers

The Managers

Arne Slot is navigating one of the most difficult stretches of his Liverpool tenure.

After winning the Premier League convincingly last season, his side have been inconsistent domestically and now face elimination from the one competition that could still define their season.

Okan Buruk, meanwhile, has built something genuinely impressive at Galatasaray.

His side are top of the Super Lig, and have eliminated Juventus and beaten Liverpool twice this season. The former Inter Milan midfielder is chock-full of belief that his side can reach the Champions League quarter-final for the first time since 2013.

Tactical Overview

Liverpool will deploy their familiar 4-2-3-1, with Gravenberch and Mac Allister holding in front of the back four. Szoboszlai operates as the advanced playmaker, flanked by Salah on the right and Wirtz on the left.

Ekitike leads the line, offering more movement in behind than a traditional target striker.

The primary concern from the first leg was Liverpool’s vulnerability from set pieces. Galatasaray exploited a corner perfectly in the seventh minute, a pattern that has troubled the Reds throughout the season. Eliminating that weakness is the first task at Anfield.

They also have to deal with Victor Osimhen’s relentless pressing, something they’ve not found a way to handle in two games this season.

Galatasaray’s Lucas Torreira and Lemina have to sit deep, screening the defence and breaking up play, while Lang and Barış Yılmaz stretch Liverpool’s full-backs across the width of the pitch.

Osimhen operates between the lines against Van Dijk and Konaté, using his movement to create space for runners from midfield.

The key for Okan Buruk’s men is simple: if Liverpool scores quickly, Galatasaray must come out of their defensive shape, and the tie opens up.

If Galatasaray reach half-time without conceding, then the pressure from the fans at Anfield becomes suffocating, and the noise deafening, which could force Slot into some changes that’ll lead to committing more men forward. Ultimately, the advantage is in Liverpool’s hands as it is.