Champions League holders Liverpool could take a giant stride towards the knockout stages of the competition when they host Genk at Anfield on Tuesday night.

Jurgen Klopp's side sit second in Group E at the halfway stage but could end Tuesday with a six-point lead over third place heading into the final two games of the group stages.

Match preview

Liverpool have not made it easy for themselves in recent weeks, but to the frustration of the chasing pack they keep on managing to get the job done.

Saturday's dramatic late turnaround at Aston Villa was the latest and most pertinent example of that as goals in the 87th and 94th minutes turned what would have been a damaging 1-0 defeat into a invigorating 2-1 victory.

Some minds may have already drifted to Sunday's showdown against closest title challengers Manchester City - themselves narrow and late 2-1 winners at the weekend - and that looming fixture only heightened the importance of Saturday's comeback.

Without the goals from Andrew Robertson and Sadio Mane Man City would have had the chance to move level with Liverpool with victory at Anfield, whereas now the best they can do is close the gap to three points, whereas victory for Liverpool will open up a nine-point lead after 12 games.

Klopp will no doubt be happy to have a home Champions League tie prior to Sunday, and they will be firm favourites to make it three Group E wins on the bounce against a Genk side they beat 4-1 in Belgium last month.

That result is the only time in Liverpool's last eight matches that they have won by more than one goal and, while Klopp would take 1-0 or 2-1 victories every week if it leads them to the title, a more comfortable triumph is perhaps overdue for a team that has picked up 31 points from 33 available in the league this season.

Liverpool's record at Anfield suggests that comfortable win could be coming on Tuesday, with the Reds having won their last six home Champions League group games while scoring 22 goals in the process.

Indeed, Liverpool boast a fearsome home record across all competitions, winning all seven this season and last losing in front of their own fans in September 2018 - a run of 28 matches.

Few have been more dramatic than last week's 5-5 EFL Cup draw against Arsenal which Liverpool went on to win on penalties and, while Klopp talked up the entertainment of that game, he would surely prefer a much more routine triumph when Genk come to town.

A clean sheet may even be high up his priority list having seen his side fail to keep one at home in any competition this season, conceding 13 goals including three against Red Bull Salzburg in their only previous Champions League outing at Anfield this term.

Genk will at least hope to pose an attacking threat, then, as they did with their late consolation in the reverse fixture, but any hopes of pulling off a famous upset against the European champions look bleak.

The Belgian outfit have never won a game in the Champions League proper - their run of 15 matches without victory is an unwanted competition record - and so far this term they have conceded 10 goals from their three outings.

Defeat could see any slim hopes of reaching the knockout stages extinguished once and for all, but their main priority could be damage limitation from the start having lost their last five Champions League away games, conceding a whopping 18 in the last three at an average of six per match.

Things have not been too much better domestically this season either; Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Eupen was their fifth in the league this term - already as many as they suffered en route to the title in 2018-19 - and left them in mid-table, 13 points behind leaders Club Brugge.

Indeed, Genk are also 13 points off the pace they themselves set at this stage of last season and come into this match having won just one of their last five games across all competitions.

Liverpool Champions League form: LWW
Liverpool form (all competitions): WDWWWW

Genk Champions League form: LDL
Genk form (all competitions): WLLWDL

Team News

Liverpool are expected to be without Joel Matip until at least after the upcoming international break after he suffered a setback in his recovery from a knee injury.

The centre-back joins Xherdan Shaqiri and Nathaniel Clyne on the sidelines, but there are no other concerns for Klopp after Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Naby Keita came through the weekend unscathed.

Fabinho was left out at Villa Park to protect him from suspension, but he could return for this one with Adam Lallana struggling at times in his new holding role over the past two games.

Klopp could consider changes to rest key players ahead of Sunday's match against Man City, though, which may hand chances to the likes of Divock Origi, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, the latter of whom scored twice in the reverse fixture.

Genk are without first-choice goalkeeper Danny Vukovic due to an Achilles tendon injury, with Gaetan Coucke filling in between the sticks.

Manager Felice Mazzu is expected to welcome top scorer Mbwana Samatta back into the starting lineup after he was rested at the weekend.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Milner, Fabinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Salah, Origi, Mane

Genk possible starting lineup:
Coucke; Maehle, Cuesta, Lucumi, Uronen; Ito, Heynen, Berge, Bongonda; Samatta; Onuachu

We say: Liverpool 4-0 Genk

No Belgian team has ever avoided defeat against Liverpool at Anfield, and Genk have shown nothing this season to suggest that they could be the first. Everything points to a comfortable win for the hosts, and they could even chalk up the bonus of a first home clean sheet of the season too.