Jamie Carragher cites percentage probability of Liverpool overturning first-leg deficit next week
Jamie Carragher has placed a percentage probability on Liverpool advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals after their round-of-16 first-leg defeat to Galatasaray on Tuesday.
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For the second time in six months, the Reds were beaten 1-0 at Rams Park, and the task at Anfield next week could’ve been even more difficult were it not for a fine performance from Giorgi Mamardashvili and a Victor Osimhen goal being allowed after some slapstick defending from Ibrahima Konate.
Despite the result and another error-strewn performance in Istanbul, the former Reds defender remains confident that the Premier League champions will do enough on home soil in seven days’ time to reach the last eight in Europe.
Carragher ‘98%’ confident Liverpool will progress
Speaking on CBS Sports Golazo after the match, Carragher said: “I don’t think Galatasaray are a great team. They’re a team Liverpool should beat and should go through. I’m still 98% [confident LFC will progress] – it was 99% a couple of weeks ago!
“I still think Liverpool will go through, but this is a worry for the manager and the team. What we saw tonight is what we saw early on in the league phase against Galatasaray. This team is just a million miles off where it was supposed to be this season.”
"I still think Liverpool will go through but this is a worry for the manager and the team. This team is just a million miles off where it was supposed to be this season."@carra23 gives an honest review of Liverpool's performance against Galatasaray pic.twitter.com/AltDpsHD12
— CBS Sports Golazo (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 10, 2026
What version of Liverpool will turn up in the second leg?
Carragher is right in one sense – the Turkish champions are nothing special and the goal which secured victory wasn’t a piece of aesthetic brilliance, but rather a set piece from which the home side won two simple headers to score.
Galatasaray didn’t show anything which should have Liverpool quaking in their boots about the prospect of turning them over at Anfield next Wednesday, especially with no away fans in attendance in L4, but they might well feel the same about the Reds after what transpired last night.
Trying to predict what Arne Slot’s side will produce in the second leg brings to mind that famous ‘box of chocolates’ line from Forrest Gump – ‘You never know what you’re gonna get’ – and that’s been particularly true in this season’s Champions League.
LFC could summon the kind of authoritative performance which conquered Real Madrid, Marseille and Qarabag and progress with ease, or it could be the calamity of PSV Eindhoven in November all over again, judging by some of the errors on display at Rams Park.
At full strength and with the backing of a fervent home crowd, Liverpool should have enough quality to overturn the first-leg deficit and advance to the quarter-finals.
Alas, we’re talking about a team which has flattered to deceive for most of this campaign, and we can only wonder how many Reds supporters share Carragher’s 98% confidence that we’ll have another European night at Anfield in April.
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