With Bayer Leverkusen's condition this season, then I think even if the match is played in Germany, I will still believe Liverpool will not be defeated by Bayer Leverkusen. I personally basically do not underestimate Bayer Leverkusen but yes, because their conditions this season are at least clearly different, then I personally will remain confident in Liverpool. But even so, I personally will still say that this is a match that will remain difficult for Liverpool. Although I am very confident to choose Liverpool to win in this match, but I believe that Bayer Leverkusen will still be difficult to beat, because Bayer Leverkusen still has a good effort and mentality under Xabi Alonso.
Leverkusen and Liverpool are both strong teams. Leverkusen's performance this season may have been somewhat erratic. But still I would say Leverkusen are fully capable of getting 3 points against Liverpool. So if Liverpool can't play well then the team will fail to get 3 points against Leverkusen.
Liverpool's performance against Arsenal in the last match of the Premier League was not very good. In particular, I would say that the performance of Liverpool's attacking players has been a bit slow this season. So if Leverkusen's defenders can play well against Liverpool then Leverkusen has a big chance of getting points against Liverpool.
The game against Leverkusen will be a difficult one for Liverpool, bearing in mind that the fixture comes at a time when the team is not fully fit due to a very tight schedule. The loss of key players through injury- Diogo Jota among them- has really blunted the attacking edge. It is a major loss as he played a pivotal role in goal-scoring opportunities and kept constant pressure on the back line. Yet another absentee will be Federico Chiesa, who just arrived from Juventus and was poised to replace even that injured player.
This limits the options that Liverpool can pursue for its frontline and striking options too. It feels that without those two important figures there, this is one evaluation that many do, having watched the forward line of play for Liverpool, feeling that it is moving with slightly less speed and sharpness. Leverkusen does not perform well but has very strong defenders. Therefore, it might prove quite challenging for Liverpool to break down the defense and score goals.
Both Liverpool and Leverkusen are strong teams and both have good coaches like Slot and Xabi Alonso. I think for Xabi Alonso that's important to win this match because they recently could get good results in the Bundesliga and they lost many points because of the draws they got but winning this match can decrease the pressure on Xabi Alonso and his team. Also, people expect to see the same good performance from Xabi Alonso as he had in the last season when they were unbeaten.
But Liverpool has good forwards and a strong frontline, as you said, which is enough to score the first goal against Leverkusen. I think Liverpool will score the first goal, and Leverkusen will try to come back like they always do.
