rewrite this title Champions League predictions: Wednesday's Matchday 5 fixtures

[ad_1] rewrite this content using a minimum of 1000 words and keep HTML tags The Champions League drama continues on Wednesday night as teams around Europe attempt to jump up the table in pursuit of knockout stage places.

Sides throughout Europe's elite club competition have to start getting points on the board as crunch-time approaches with just over half of the league phase now completed.

Wednesday presents some truly captivating fixtures, with the headline act being Liverpool's clash with Real Madrid in what should be a crackling Anfield atmosphere. That's not all the evening has to offer, however, with Aston Villa also at home against Serie A giants Juventus.

Plenty more twists and turns are in store, but who are the favourites to claim victories in Wednesday's round of Matchday 5 action?

Liverpool have a huge tie against Real Madrid / Dan Istitene/GettyImages

After Tuesday's schedule started with Sparta Prague being smashed by Atletico Madrid and Slovan Bratislava suffering a less embarrassing fate against Milan, Wednesday begins with a pair of equally gargantuan fixtures.

Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart will hope to secure a second win of the league phase when they visit Red Star Belgrade, who have conceded 16 goals in four matches so far. Sturm Graz's meeting with Girona also kicks off at 17:45 GMT before some of the heavyweight battles get the evening truly underway.

Aston Villa and Juventus are two proud and historic football clubs and could serve up a tight but intriguing contest in the West Midlands. Villa have struggled for form of late but their upcoming opponents are missing several stars and could be blunt in attack.

Bologna remain one of the winless sides at the halfway point and it might be a familiar story when a Lille team that enjoyed victories over both Madrid clubs make the journey to Emilia-Romagna.

Celtic are another British team in action and have looked pretty comfortable throughout most of the Champions League so far this season - a hefty 7-1 defeat aside. Brendan Rodgers' troops could further improve their current standing against Club Brugge.

Monaco and PSV Eindhoven will hope for victories against Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk respectively, but Wednesday's must-watch encounter comes at Anfield when Liverpool entertain Real Madrid. The Reds have won all four of their European games this term and have a great chance to dispel their recent hoodoo against Los Blancos, who will be without superstar winger Vinicius Junior due to injury.

Kick-off time (GMT)

Fixture

Prediction