Liverpool are back in unfamiliar territory on Thursday evening as they take on LASK in Austria to begin their 2023/24 Europa League journey.
A disappointing Premier League campaign for the Reds last time out saw them finish fifth which means they’ll be competing in the Europa League for the first time since Jurgen Klopp’s debut season on Merseyside.
Klopp’s men have started the new campaign in fine fettle and they rattled off their fourth-straight win at Molineux on Saturday ahead of their continental venture.
LASK, who faced Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham in this competition three years ago, have also started the season brightly, although they’re very much expected to compete with Sturm Gruz for ‘best of the rest’ status behind RB Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga. A play-off victory over Bosnian outfit Zrinjski Mostar ensured LASK progressed into the Europa League group stages.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Liverpool’s upcoming Austrian trip.
LASK vs Liverpool H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current Form (all competitions)
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Country |
TV channel/live stream |
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United Kingdom |
TNT Sports 1, discovery+, discovery+ App |
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United States |
Paramount+, fuboTV, TUDN USA, UniMás, TUDN.com, Univision NOW, TUDN App, ViX |
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Canada |
DAZN |
The Austrian side haven’t exactly had much luck with injuries as of late, with Tobias Anselm, Yannis Letard and Adil Taoui all absent due to ACL problems. None of these players have been included in Thomas Sageder’s group-stage squad.
Ebrima Darboe, who joined the club on loan from Roma in the summer, could earn minutes off the bench, but he’s not yet ready for a start, while a muscular issue is set to keep winger Lenny Pintor on the sidelines.
LASK predicted lineup (3-4-3): Lawal; Luckeneder, Ziereis, Andrade; Flecker, Jovicic, Horvath, Bello; Ljubicic, Zulj, Havel
Strict UEFA rules mean Jurgen Klopp has named a strong 23-man squad for Liverpool’s group-stage matches, although the German boss will be expected to rotate heavily on Thursday.
Trent Alexander-Arnold remains sidelined which means Joe Gomez should once again continue at right-back with Jarrell Quansah earning another start at centre-back. He could be joined by Ibrahima Konate, who earned minutes off the bench at Molineux.
Ryan Gravenberch is a sure bet to make his first Reds start, while fellow new arrival Wataru Endo should be utilised at the base of Klopp’s midfield. There could also be a first competitive start for young Ben Doak out wide.
Liverpool predicted lineup (4-3-3): Kelleher; Gomez, Konate, Quansah, Tsimikas; Endo, Gravenberch, Elliott; Doak, Nunez, Diaz
While Klopp will make wholesale changes to his starting XI, Liverpool will still boast a strong starting XI in Austria on Thursday. There are several players, including a couple of new faces, with points to prove and impressions to make.
LASK are hardly built to compete against a side of the Reds’ calibre and while these sorts of trips can be tricky, it’s hard to envisage even a rotated Liverpool outfit having many issues. Klopp’s men should get their campaign up and running with a comfortable away victory.
Prediction: LASK 0-3 Liverpool
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