Liverpool is a confident unit after their impressive display against Aston Villa where they thrashed them 6-1 in the EPL. However, the Reds needs to deliver another clinical performance as they are set for the round of 32 Europa League clash against FC Augsburg at SGL arena, Thursday.
Liverpool might not have played great football in the round robin stages of the Europa League, but they did well to finish on top of Group B with FC Sion finishing second. Liverpool gave chances to a number of young players in the competition, but that could all change in the near future with the Reds looking for major silverware this season.
More importantly, with Liverpool in the eighth position in the EPL table, their only chance of making it to the champions league might be by winning the Europa League. It is not going to be any easy to achieve their goals with the presence of some big names such as Manchester United, Porto and Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League.
Liverpool is expected to play a strong team against Augsburg to improve their chances of making it to the next round of the competition.
Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho's presence in their last match against Villa showed that Liverpool is a great threat when the two ply their trade on the pitch together. Apart from Coutinho and Sturridge, they will also bank on their in-form player, Roberto Firmino to deliver in Germany.
Their opponent, Augsburg has not been in the best of forms of late in the Bundesliga. They are in the bottom half of the table with 21 points only, but were decent in the Europa League group stages where they finished second in Group L.
Augsburg will treat this game against Liverpool, who is one of the most popular team in the world, as one of their biggest matches in recent history. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who has spent his last 14 years as manager in Germany, knows the club well and will plan accordingly.
"A lot depends on their selection but they're a really good German team, compact, very physical. They're good, they know what they're doing, and they try to do it really well in the Europa League," Klopp was quoted as saying by the club's official website.
"It's not as if every single game we play we do so well and get the good results. Yes, in the Bundesliga, some results weren't so good, but everyone wants to get as far as they can in the Europa League and that's the aim of both teams."
A tough physical game is on the cards with the German side said to play some solid football. Though Liverpool might start the game as favourites, Augsburg will latch onto any chances that comes by to score the all-important goal in front of their home fans, who will be keen to see their team register a win.
Though things do not look great for the home side with some of their key players injured, Augsburg will not make life easy for Liverpool. Daniel Baier will miss the game while other players such as Jan Moravek, and Jeong-Ho Hong and Ji Dong-Won may not feature in the contest. Liverpool, on the other hand, do not have any such problems.
Where to watch Europa League Live
Augsburg vs Liverpool Europa League match has been scheduled for 9:05 p.m local time (1:35am IST, 8:05 p.m GMT, 3:05 p.m ET). Viewers in India can watch the Augsburg vs Liverpool Europa League on Ten Action with live streaming option on Ten Sports Live.
Viewers in the UK can watch the Augsburg vs Liverpool Europa League match live on BT Sport Europe with live streaming option on Watch BT Sport.
US viewers have the option of catching the Augsburg vs Liverpool Europa League game live on Fox Sports 2 USA; the match can also be live streamed online on FoxSoccer2Go.
Viewers in Germany can watch the game live on Sky Sports 1/HD and Sky Sports 3/HD.
