25 Feb 2016

Liverpool lineup vs. Augsburg: £66m-trio out; surprise in defence? Klopp to unleash 'amazing' attacker again?

After the rare luxury of seven clear days without a game, Jurgen Klopp's well-rested Liverpool team is back in action tonight in the Europa League, and with the League Cup final only three days away, it's (arguably) vital to to go into that prestige game on the back of a good, solid victory. Can Liverpool put Augsburg to the sword?

Klopp's pre-match updates:

* On injuries: "Joe Allen is in a good way but not available, Adam Lallana is not available for tomorrow. Martin Skrtel is not available. Dejan was one day in training, now he’s ill, that’s not good".

* On the week off: "Saturday and Sunday they were off and we started again on Monday. We could train on Monday and Tuesday and tonight completely normally".

* On Augsburg's approach: "Augsburg are a danger, especially if they score [and] make the situation very difficult. They are not simply a counter-attacking team [and] they have other means of attacking so there's nothing new there".

Liverpool's league season is basically over, so winning the Europa League is the only realistic chance of making it into the Champions League.

As such, it seems likely that Klopp will play his strongest available team, which should - barring injury - include 'amazing' striker Daniel Sturridge. This is an approach supported by Reds legend John Aldridge, who told the Liverpool Echo this week:

"Liverpool must not rest players for the [League] Cup Final. If you chop and change you could end up going to Wembley on the back of a bad result"

Given the renewed defensive solidity over the last two games, it seems likely that Klopp will stick with the same team that started the first leg:

-------------- Mignolet
Clyne ---- Sakho -- Toure --- Moreno
---- Henderson - Can --- Milner
-------- Coutinho -- Firmino
-------------- Sturridge

The only possible surprise I can see is Caulker or Ilori starting ahead of Toure, but given the Ivorian's current form, that seems unlikely.

Worse teams than Augsburg have come to Anfield and won this season, and with only TWO wins in the last EIGHT home games, victory is by no means a foregone conclusion.

P. LEAGUE

You have until Thursday @ 6pm (GMT) to participate.

* 20 Points: First goalscorer.

* 20 Points: Liverpool player with the lowest passing accuracy.

* 30 Points: Collective number of LFC aerial duels won.

* 50 Point Triple-Whammy: Goalscorer + passing accuracy + aerial duels

* The Neal Page Mega-Bonus: 100 points. Perfect score + Goalscorer + passing accuracy + aerial duels


Good luck!

^ Allen: £20m-rated. Lallana: Cost £26m. Lovren: Cost £20m.

Author: Jaimie K


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