Monterrey v Liverpool: Back a quick start for Klopp's team

Dan Fitch is expecting Liverpool to be ahead by half-time against Monterrey and to ultimately book their place in the Club World Cup final.

Monterrey 13.00 v Liverpool 1.25; The Draw 7.40
Wednesday 17:30
Live on BBC Two

Central American champions ease through, but defending a worry

Monterrey will hope that their early arrival in Qatar will give them an edge against one of the toughest opponents in world club football.

The Mexicans were in action in Doha on Saturday, beating the Qatari side Al-Sadd 3-2. Though the scoreline suggests a closely fought match, in truth it was a fairly comfortable affair for Monterrey. Twice they held a two goal lead, before being pegged back by Al-Sadd.

Monterrey played bright, attacking football, but the fact that Al-Sadd were able to cut through their defence and score two, will be a concern before the challenge of Liverpool. Al-Sadd created a number of other chances in a free flowing game and Monterrey will surely have to try to play more conservatively against a Liverpool team that will not be so wasteful.

One of the few Monterrey players that would be familiar to Liverpool fans, is a doubt for Wednesday. The former Tottenham striker Vincent Janssen has an injury and faces a fitness test.

Inconvenient Club World Cup is worth winning

Liverpool's involvement in the Club World Cup is causing them a lot of problems, so we can at least be sure that they're going to take it seriously.

With the Reds having to field a team of youngsters against Aston Villa in the EFL Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday and their Premier League game at West Ham postponed, the timing of this competition leaves something to be desired. Should Liverpool make it past Villa to reach the semi-finals of the EFL Cup, then they look set to suffer major fixture congestion in 2020, with the Champions League knockout stages, FA Cup and title run-in all coinciding.

Yet Liverpool have always been a club that has revelled in conquering overseas and making history. This is a new competition for Liverpool to win and when they last had a chance, back in 2005, they lost to Sao Paulo.

With the final to come at the weekend, Jurgen Klopp may rotate a little and he also has a few injuries to deal with. Nathaniel Clyne, Dejan Lovren, Joel Matip, Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum are all out.

Liverpool will have this won by the break

Liverpool are the 1.25 favourites, with the draw at 7.40 and a Monterrey win at 13.00.

There doesn't seem much doubt that Liverpool will win this one, with the likely final against Flamengo sure to be a more competitive affair. Liverpool will no doubt be keen to get this one over with quickly to focus on the final and they are 1.78 to win half-time/full-time.

Monterrey can score

With Monterrey having been involved in an entertaining game in the previous round, it's no surprise to see that over 2.5 goals is as short as 1.48. Much better value is both teams to score at 1.95.

With Liverpool suffering with defensive injuries, it's likely that they'll concede. They were extremely fortunate to keep a clean sheet against Watford on Saturday and a Liverpool win and both teams to score could be an option at 2.60.