Liverpool’s hopes of adding another UEFA Champions League Trophy to their cabinet never took off, with Jurgen Klopp’s side forced to endure a campaign in the second tier of European club football – the UEFA Europa League.
Their continental season commences on Thursday evening, with the Reds travelling to Austria. They’ll face LASK, who qualified for the tournament after finishing third in the Austrian Bundesliga and progressing through the playoff system.
Jurgen Klopp has named a rotated side to take on Austrian opposition, after his side cruised to a comfortable win against Wolves at Molineux on Saturday. The German manager has opted to change his entire lineup – none of the players starting on Thursday were in the starting eleven last time out.
Embed from Getty ImagesKostas Tsimikas, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk and Stefan Bajčetić replace Andy Robertson, Jarell Quansah, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez in defence – while Caiomhín Kelleher also replaces Alisson between the sticks.
Curtis Jones, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have been rested in favour of Wataru Endō, Ryan Gravenberch and Harvey Elliott. Klopp has made attacking changes too, with Luis Díaz, Darwin Núñez and Ben Doak leading the line.
LASK: Lawal; Luckeneder, Andrade, Ziereis; Renner, Horvath, Jovicic, Flecker; Havel, Zulj, Ljubicic
LIV: Kelleher; Tsimikas, Konaté, van Dijk, Bajcetic; Endō, Gravenberch, Elliott; Díaz, Núñez, Doak
