Liverpool travel to Belgium for their UEFA Europa League clash against Union Saint-Gilloise at Stade Joseph Marien on Thursday.
Liverpool will look to finish the group stage on a high with a victory away from home at Stade Joseph Marien to take on Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday evening. The Reds are on top of Group E with four wins and a defeat from their five group games.
The away side will look to pick up a comfortable victory here and progress through to the knockouts high on confidence and momentum. Meanwhile, the hosts are third in the standings, and they will look to progress through to the next round of the competition with a victory here.
They are three points adrift of second-placed Toulouse, and a win here could send them to the knockout rounds if the other results go their way. This is likely to be a cracking contest, and the home team will be desperate for all three points.
Team News & Tactics
Union St.Gilloise
The home team have a fully-fit squad to choose from, and they should be able to field their full-strength lineup for the must-win against Liverpool tomorrow.
Anthony Moris is set to start in goal behind a back three of Kevin Mac Allister, Christian Burgess and Fedde Leysen. Alessio Castro-Montes and Loic Lapoussin will be deployed as the wing-backs here. The two players will look to protect the central defenders as well as help create counter-attacking opportunities.
Noah Sadiki and Charles Vanhoutte will feature in the middle of the park for Union Saint-Gilloise against Liverpool. Lazare Amani and Cameron Puertas should start as the wide forwards. Gustaf Nilsson will lead the line for the hosts.
Probable Lineup (3-4-3): Moris; Mac Allister, Burgess, Leysen; Castro-Montes, Vanhoutte, Sadiki, Lapoussin; Amani, Nilsson, Puertas
Liverpool
Liverpool are likely to rotate their squad here, especially with the game against Manchester United coming up. They have a number of injury problems withThiago Alcantara, Andrew Robertson, and Stefan Bajcetic are all ruled out until next month.
Joel Matip has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with ACL damage. Alexis Mac Allister picked up an injury against Crystal Palace, and he is set to be sidelined for a few games. Diogo Jota has resumed training, but this game might be too soon for him to return.
Caoimhin Kelleher will start in goal for the Reds behind a back four of Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Jarell Quansah, and Kostas Tsimikas. Gomez and Tsimikas will look to help out in the attack as well.
As for the midfield unit, Wataru Endo is likely to start, and he will look to be the anchorman here. The Japanese international will look to break up the opposition attacks and win the ball back for his side. Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott will add creativity and control in the middle of the park. Finally, Cody Gakpo is set to lead the line for Liverpool here, with Ben Doak and Luis Diaz on either side of him.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Kelleher; Gomez, Konate, Quansah, Tsimikas; Elliott, Endo, Jones; Doak, Gakpo, Diaz
Key Stats
- Liverpool have picked up five wins and a draw from the last six matches across all competitions.
- Union Saint-Gilloise have picked up four wins and two draws from the last six matches across all competitions.
- Liverpool have scored 16 goals in five Europa League games this season.
- Union Saint-Gilloise are winless in four of their last five Europa League games.
- Liverpool are unbeaten in four of their last five Europa League games.
Player to Watch
Cody Gakpo
The 24-year-old Dutchman is expected to be handed a start here, and he will look to make his mark in the Europa League once again. Gakpo managed to score a brace against LASK in the last outing, and he will look to continue his rich vein of form in the Europa League.
The former PSV Eindhoven attacker has six goals across all competitions despite being a squad player. So, Gakpo will look to force his way into the starting lineup more often with an impressive performance here.
Prediction
Union Saint-Gilloise 1-2 Liverpool
The home side are in desperate need of a victory here to keep their hopes of knockout-round qualification alive. They will look to put in a strong performance here. However, the away side have far more quality at their disposal, and they have the strength on the bench to bring on players and change the game if needed.
This is likely to be a close contest but Liverpool have enough quality to come out on top here. A narrow away win is on the cards. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-1 win for Jurgen Klopp and his charges for Thursday’s game.
