Can Liverpool make it two wins out of two in the Champions League? Following last month's 2-1 victory over Atlético Madrid, the Reds are in Austria to take on competition debutants LASK at the Raiffeisen Arena.
With injuries piling up and games coming thick and fast, Andoni Iraola was always going to have to think long and hard about his lineup in Linz, so find out who he has selected:
Liverpool's confirmed starting lineup vs LASK
- Alisson Becker.
- Jeremie Frimpong, Ronald Araújo, Jérémy Jacquet & Kostas Tsimikas.
- Ryan Gravenberch, Trey Nyoni & Florian Wirtz.
- Rio Ngumoha, Bradley Barcola & Lewis Koumas
- Substitutes: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Freddie Woodman, Joe Gomez, Miloš Kerkez, Virgil van Dijk, Luke Chambers, Wellity Lucky, Alexis Mac Allister, James McConnell, Víctor Muñoz, Josh Sonni-Lambie, Jayden Danns.
Fair to say, no one expected that starting lineup from Iraola. Captain Virgil van Dijk misses a Premier League or Champions League match, not including dead rubbers, for the first time since September 2023 against Wolves, a match he was suspended for. Kostas Tsimikas, Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha all come in compared to the weekend's XI, with the Greek left-back named captain.
As was the case for Sunday's 3-0 defeat against Manchester City, none of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexander Isak nor Cody Gakpo are available. There is hope that the Hungarian midfielder will be available for Saturday's visit to Brentford, his compatriot Miloš Kerkez certainly intimated as much during Tuesday's press conference, but the status of the two attackers is less clear.
Of course, Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley and Hugo Ekitiké are long-term absentees, while you may have noticed that neither Wataru Endō nor Federico Chiesa are even on the bench. This is because both were excluded from the UEFA squad, hence why youngsters Wellity Lucky and Josh Sonni-Lambie have been drafted in.
LASK's confirmed starting lineup vs Liverpool
- Lukas Jungwirth
- Alemão, Andrés Andrade & Xavier Mbuyamba.
- Kasper Jørgensen, Kryštof Daněk, Melayro Bogarde, Alessandro Schöpf & Yvan Dibango.
- Samuel Adeniran & Christoph Lang.
- Substitutes: Tobias Schützenauer, Fabian Schillinger, Miguel Freckleton, Robert Ljubičić, Saša Kalajdžić, Daniel Elfadli, Manoël Verhaeghe, Florian Flecker and Nael Kane.
Manager Dietmar Kühbauer has made four changes compared to Sunday's 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Rapid Wien. Former Wolves striker Saša Kalajdžić might be a familiar face, while there is American interest in USMNT international George Bello as well as Texas-born striker Samuel Adeniran. Die Schwarz-Weißen's top-scorer this season is Christoph Lang with ten already, albeit admittedly four of these did come against third-tier SC Kalsdorf in the ÖFB Cup.
What time does LASK vs Liverpool kick off?
Don't be caught out! This is an early kick off. The clash at Oberösterreich Arena kicks off at 6:45pm local time in Linz, which is 5:45pm in the UK and Ireland. Across the pond, this is 12:45pm on the east coast of the United States and 9:45am Pacific Time.
How can I watch LASK vs Liverpool in the Champions League?
In the UK, this match will be live on TNT Sports 2 and available to stream on HBO Max. Fans in the United States can tune in via Paramount+.
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