The Reds will start their 2023/24 UEL campaign in Austria on Thursday where they will be facing Thomas Sageder's LASK in Linz. This will be the first time in history that Liverpool and LASK have faced off so the build up may be more than expected.
The UEL past for The Red's
Liverpool last played in the Europa League in the 2015/16 season where they ended up in the final against the most successful club in the competition, Sevilla, which ended in a 3-1 defeat despite a Daniel Sturridge screamer.
Motivation for poor last season
Klopp will be looking to win the Europa League this season as it is the only competition he has not won with the Reds since taking over in 2015. This will be the motivation for his side this year to get back on track after the poor season last year.
The Reds finished 5th after a terrible first half to the season and a decent second half where they finished on a run of 11 games unbeaten
Our Opponents
LASK sit 3rd in the Austrian Bundesliga behind Salzburg and Sturm Graz, where the side finished the 22/23 season to qualify for the Europa League. Unbeaten in 5 league games (3W,2D), LASK will look to extend that run, however, they are met with a Liverpool side who are yet to lose all season and don't plan on stopping any time soon.
The Black-Whites were the first team out of Vienna to win the Austrian Championship, the only in their clubs history. They have been in European competition multiple times throughout the clubs history but rarely make it out of the group stages.
Predictions for the team and the campaign
Klopp may decide to put out a more weakened team for the Thursday night fixture as he wants to rest players and give players more game time for the season, but, as the first game of the competition, the Reds would want to make a statement to the rest of the teams in the competition, so quality may be put out over anything for just this game.
Liverpool are favourites to win the competition so pressure is on for them throughout the competition, this added pressure could produce quality or mistakes. Klopp, will be hoping for quality. The group at first sight is not intimidating but, with Europa League football, there can be no accurate predictions for what may happen during the competition.
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