Charlie Nicholas Makes His Prediction Ahead Of Liverpool’s Clash With Dortmund

Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has offered his prediction ahead of Liverpool’s huge Europa League quarter final first leg against Borussia Dortmund.

Liverpool booked their place in the last eight of the competition after beating Premier League rivals Manchester United 3-1 on aggregate in the last-16 stage but they face an even tougher test in order to progress to the semi-finals.

The Merseysiders head to Germany to face Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion after Jurgen Klopp was pitted against his former side in the quarter final draw.

It’s certainly going to be a difficult game for the Reds and Charlie Nicholas is tipping Dortmund to take control of the tie with a 2-0 victory on Thursday, with the Sky Sports pundit backing red-hot striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to open the scoring.

Writing in his column for Sky Sports, Nicholas said:

There’s no doubt Jurgen Klopp would love to go back and show just what he’s done with this Liverpool side but I see a lot of similarities between this tie and Manchester City’s.

Dortmund have bags of pace, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in particular, and I just think they’ll be able to punish the mistakes that Liverpool make at the back and for that reason I think Klopp’s men simply have to score to have any chance of progressing.

The one hope I do give them is that Anfield is a really special place on European nights, but so is Westfalenstadion and it’s going to be a big ask for them to leave with the tie still alive.

Charlie predicts: 2-0 and Aubameyang to score first

We’ll have to wait and see whether Nicholas’s prediction proves accurate but a 2-0 defeat would leave Liverpool with a mountain to climb heading in to the second leg at Anfield, so I’m sure Reds fans are hoping for a more positive first leg result this week.