Liverpool face a daunting but familiar trip to Istanbul on Tuesday evening as they take on Galatasaray in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie.
Arne Slot’s side arrives at RAMS Park looking to carry the momentum from Friday’s 3-1 FA Cup victory over Wolves a result that saw Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah strike in quick succession to secure a quarter-final berth. However, the “hell” of Istanbul hasn’t been kind to the Reds recently they suffered a 1-0 defeat at this very stadium during the league phase back in September.
With a place in the final eight on the line, Liverpool will need to replicate their clinical weekend form to silence a hostile home crowd and take a meaningful advantage back to Anfield.
Now, it’s the ever-unpredictable Champions League that could potentially gift Liverpool another confidence-boosting win, as the Reds have only lost two ties in Europe’s blockbuster competition, all season long.
Liverpool Champions League Record: 2025–26 League Phase:
| Matchday | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| 1 | Atletico Madrid | Home | W |
| 2 | Galatasaray | Away | L |
| 3 | Eintracht Frankfurt | Away | W |
| 4 | Real Madrid | Home | W |
| 5 | PSV Eindhoven | Home | L |
| 6 | Inter Milan | Away | W |
| 7 | Marseille | Away | W |
| 8 | Qarabag | Home | W |
Here is everything you need to know ahead Tuesday evening clash.
How to watch
Liverpool’s first leg clash in Turkey will be available to watch live on TNT Sports 1, with coverage starting at 5pm GMT ahead of a 5.45pm kick-off.
TNT Sports subscribers can also tune into the contest live by watching via the Discovery+ app and website.
Recent form
Galatasaray
Liverpool have every reason to be wary of their hosts, having already tasted defeat against the Turkish giants this season. During the league phase, a clinical Victor Osimhen penalty was enough to separate the sides, handing the Reds a frustrating loss in their previous visit to Istanbul.
Okan Buruk’s men arrive in the Round of 16 battle-hardened following a high-octane playoff victory over Juventus. While the Bianconeri entered that tie in inconsistent domestic form under Luciano Spalletti sitting sixth in Serie A they proved a stubborn obstacle.
Galatasaray eventually dismantled the Italian giants in a staggering 7-5 aggregate thriller, punctuated by a 5-2 drubbing in the first leg that showcased the sheer firepower Slot’s defense must now contain.
In all competitions, across their last five outings, The Lions have been a real force to be reckoned with, with three wins falling into their lap as they continue to sit at the top of the Super Lig table.
Liverpool will hope they can avenge the 1-0 loss on Tuesday night, anyway, despite the clear strengths of the hosts, as the Reds go about correcting an unwanted statistic from their travels to Rams Park in the past.
Liverpool
Slot will want a fast start in Istanbul to try to upset the hosts, who will attempt to use their notoriously hostile atmosphere to unnerve the Merseyside titans.
This dark-arts approach has worked wonders in the past, as Liverpool have amazingly never managed to secure a victory, playing away at Galatasaray in all of their distinguished history.
These hoodoos are meant to be broken, though, and Liverpool will have some confidence on their side, going into this nervy encounter.
Indeed, across their last five games in all competitions, the Reds have picked up four wins.
Yet, they have struggled to look free-flowing on the road, with a 2-1 loss against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux last mid-week the only blemish on their record.
Galatasaray: L L W W W
Liverpool: W W W L W
Team news
Galatasaray: Enes Büyük (out)
Liverpool: Alisson (out), Federico Chiesa (out), Alexander Isak (out), Waturo Endo (out), Conor Bradley (out), and Giovanni Leoni (out)
Predicted lineups
Galatasaray (4-2-3-1): Cakir; Sallai, Sanchez, Bardaki, Jakobs; Torreira, Lemina; Sane, Sara, Yilmaz; Oshimen
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Ekitike
What has been said
Okan Buruk (Galatasaray)
Heading into this intense showdown in the Turkish capital, Buruk has accused his playing personnel of being too focused on the game against Liverpool during the preparations for their last Super Lig clash against Beskitas.
Buruk boldly stated: “Besiktas had claimed some good results against us, so it was too early to think about Liverpool, we had to think about the league match first.
The Liverpool match was one to think about after we’d got through the derby because we knew a victory in that game would mean we’re much better prepared for Tuesday.”
Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray)
The free-flowing centre-forward, who broke Liverpool hearts with the winner the last time the sides met in Turkey, has also offered his thoughts on what will be a tough match-up for the hosts, who will need to be at their A-Game to clinch a first-leg win.
He opened up, by stating: “Liverpool are a very big team. We’ll be playing at home.
If we are careful, we can do well, even if it’s not easy. All matches in the Champions League are tough. We will fight to do well.”
Arne Slot (Liverpool)
This is Arne Slot’s 100th game in charge of the club and he previewed the occasion by saying:
“they have quality players that can fight and they have great fans behind them. We need to be so, so, so good tomorrow to bring a result back to Anfield and that’s what we’re going to try. Last time when we played them there was not a lot between us and them.”
“We’ve already lost against them, so that tells you how difficult of a game it is for us. The good thing now is that we play two games. Where in the group stage you only play away against Galatasaray. Now we also have a chance to play in front of our own fans, which will be impressive for Galatasaray.”
