Liverpool vs. Augsburg: Match Preview

After a tame, goalless draw in Augsburg last Thursday, Liverpool welcome the German side to Anfield for the return leg in with progress into the last 16 of the Europa League on the line. The first match wasn't one for the history books, and while things did pick up in the second half, it was Augsburg who came the closest to scoring when Dong-Won Ji hit the post in the dying minutes of the game. Still, it's Liverpool who go into this match with the mental advantage since it's at Anfield and since they avoided conceding at WWK Arena.

Additionally, in a surprising change of fortune, Liverpool will not be the most injury-striken team on the pitch. Since last week, Markus Weinzierl's side has lost their main striker Raul Bobadilla as well as Markus Feulner. That unfortunate news comes on the back of the team also losing Daniel Baier, Jeong-Ho Hong, Piotr Trochowski, Jan Moravek, and Jan-Ingwer Callen-Bracker.

Liverpool, on the other hand, are still working on returning stars Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho to full fitness after long spells on the sidelines for both. They've lost no new players to injury since the last game, thanks in large part to not playing at the weekend. Kevin Stewart, who signed a contract extension on Tuesday that will keep him at the club until 2020, is still out after hurting his ankle while training prior to last week's match. Adam Lallana and Joe Allen will remain on the sidelines as well.

We are approaching the most important week of Liverpool's season, and possibly even of their last eighteen months. Klopp chose a very strong team to start in Bavaria, but he did that with the knowledge that they'd have no game to play the following weekend. This time around, he'll have one eye on his first cup final as Liverpool manager on Sunday when the team travels down to Wembley to battle against Manchester City for the league cup trophy. He will have given careful thought to which players he wants to play in this match, and which, if any, he wants to rest in preparation for the final.