Manchester United Legend Paul Scholes Rates Liverpool's Chances in the Champions League

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has tipped Premier League rivals Liverpool to excel in the Champions League this season. 

The retired midfielder made a total of 124 Champions League appearances for the Red Devils and was part of a United squad that lifted the trophy on two occasions - in 1999 and 2008.

Now, speaking on BT Sport (as quoted by The Mirror), the 43-year-old believes that rivals Liverpool have what it takes to go all the way in the competition despite their defensive issues.  

"They are so exciting going forward," he said. "But defensively they still have a few problems and you worry about the goalkeeper.

"But you think they could out-score anybody - they have a great chance of winning it.

"The speed and power. You wouldn't want to play them."

Liverpool have won the European's most prestigious trophy a total of five times, most recently in 2005 when they famously came from 3-0 down at half time to take the match to penalties, with goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek the hero. 

The Merseyside club qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 2013/2014, by finishing in 4th place last season. 

After comfortably qualifying for the knockout stage by topping group E, Liverpool look to have already secured a place in the Quarter-Finals of the competition by beating Porto 5-0 away from home last week. 

If statistics are anything to go by, then Scholes could be right. Liverpool have scored 28 goals in 7 Champions League games so far this season, which equates to an average of 4 goals per game, while they have only conceded an average of 0.9 goals per game. 

Anfield will host the second leg of the round of 16 tie against Porto on March 6th, with Liverpool looking to secure their very likely passage into the Quarter-Final.