Likely loser and German gored badly (8)
I believe the answer is:
underdog
'likely loser' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'german gored badly' is the wordplay.
'german' becomes 'und' (I've seen this in other clues).
'badly' indicates an anagram.
'gored' anagrammed gives 'erdog'.
'und'+'erdog'='UNDERDOG'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for underdog that I've seen before include "Less fancied competitor" , "Unfancied performer" , "One expected to lose" , "unlikely winner" , "One at a disadvantage" .)