After the 6-0 thrashing at Villa Park, Liverpool, high on confidence will resume their European competition this mid-week with a game against FC Augsburg from the Bundesliga. With 9 points away from a Champions League spot in the points table, the Europa league now represents the only route to the elite competition next season so it will be an important match for both sides.
Augsburg were beaten by Bayern in their last encounter in the Bundesliga and will have to put that defeat out of their mind if they are to get anything from this game. However, the pressure will be immense on the home side after this game is being vividly publicized as the biggest tie in the club’s history.
Here is the preview of the game along with the team news, predictions, expected-line-ups and betting odds.
The FC Augsburg vs Liverpool game will be played on Thursday the 18th of February at the WWK Arena in Augsburg. The kickoff is scheduled at 8:05 pm BST (1:35 am IST on Friday).
Team News:
FC Augsburg have been dealt several injury blows recently. Daniel Baier, Raphael Framberger, Marco Schuster, and Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker are out of contention for this game leaving the manager a bit light on depth in the squad. uring their last match against Bayern, Jan Moravek went off injured and is doubtful for Thursday.
The Liverpool manager revealed that Adam Lallana and Kevin Stewart are not making the trip due to different reasons. Joe Allen, Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren and Jordan Rossiter are still not fit enough to be a part of this trip while Jon Flanagan will not be a part of the team as he was not registered.
Expected Line-ups:
Augsburg:
Hitz; Verhaegh, Hong, Klavan, Stafylidis; Koo, Kohr; Esswein, Altinitop, Caiuby; Bobadilla
Liverpool:
Mignolet; Clyne, Toure, Sakho, Moreno; Can, Henderson; Milner, Firmino, Coutinho; Sturridge.
Key Battles:
Coutinho vs Koo:
The Brazil magician has been in good form since coming back from injury and will be hoping to make an impact on the game in Germany. Koo will have to stay tight and afford Coutinho no space or time on the ball. This battle may well decide which way this game might swing come to the end of the 90 minutes.
Toure vs Bobadilla:
The pacey striker for Augsburg will try his best to disrupt the Liverpool back four who have not been solid in recent games. Toure, who lacks a bit of pace might get caught out at times and will have to be careful to not give the home side a sniff if they want to finish off the tie in the first leg.
Key Stats:
Liverpool and Augsburg meet for the first time in European competition and the Germans will be the Reds 122nd different European opponents.
Liverpool were one of only five teams to get through the group stage undefeated – the others being Napoli, Lazio, Schalke and Sparta Prague.
Augsburg have qualified for the knockout stage this season in their first European campaign in their history.
No player has scored more than Raul Bobadilla in the Europa League this season (6, level with Aduriz).
Liverpool have been eliminated at the last 32 stage in each of their last two Europa League seasons, losing to Zenit St Petersburg in 2013 and Besiktas on penalties last year.
Of all current Liverpool players, Lucas is the club’s leading scorer in Europe with three goals
Betting Odds:
Augsburg: 12/5
Draw: 12/5
Liverpool: 11/10
Predictions:
Liverpool are fresh from a 6 goal victory over Aston Villa and with a League cup final just three days after the second leg of this tie, Klopp will want his team to finish off the job in the first leg so that he can rest some key players for that final. However, Augsburg have some real game changers and if the visitors are not alert, they may end up having to do everything in the second leg at Anfield.
Our Prediction:
Augsburg 1-3 Liverpool