Red-y For A Comeback
They love themselves some European excitement at Anfield
The silver lining that can be forcefully applied to Liverpool’s dreadful performance against Swansea is that Jurgen Klopp can now discount several players from being included in this week’s Europa League starting line-up. A few will be lucky to appear in the first team again.
Thankfully every Liverpool fan sacked off the Premier League months ago despite the occasional flirtation with a more respectable finishing position. Jurgen Klopp has the fans eating out of his hand so he has no pressing need to win the Europa League but it’d be nice.
Looking back at Liverpool’s history in European competitions the chances are good that he’ll lead the Reds to a second cup final in his first season.
Liverpool have appeared in sixteen previous major European semi-finals. Of those 16 Liverpool have advanced to the final 11 times and lifted the trophy 8 times. At Anfield Liverpool have only lost one semi-final game in Europe. Twelve wins, three draws and just one loss should breathe more confidence in to your Liverpool bets.
On five occasions Liverpool have lost the first leg of their semi-final away from home. Every single time they won the return leg at Anfield. Liverpool only progressed to the final in three of the five semi-finals but as far as betting goes the Reds are looking a great bet to win this game over the course of 90 minutes.
In four of the five return legs Liverpool won to nil at Anfield.
Shouldn’t Be Too S-painful
Liverpool’s record against Spanish sides is positive if you’re backing the Merseysiders but it’s not as conclusive. The Reds have faced Spanish sides in the knock-out stages in Europe ten times. At Anfield they won five, drew three and lost two. IF you include the group stages Liverpool’s Anfield record against Spanish sides stands at five wins, six draws and four defeats.
There’s a definite edge when it comes to the knock-out rounds but five wins from ten against Spanish sides on their own doesn’t look as good as some of the previous numbers.
If you’re a Liverpool backer and you’re looking for a little more positivity, Jurgen Klopp has a 100% record of qualifying for European finals once his side reaches the semi-final stage. One from one is still 100%.
Dan May Not Be The Man
The good news is that after Martin Skrtel’s Swansea display Kolo Toure will be back alongside Dejan Lovren in defence which will help with not leaving cavernous gaps at the back.
The potential return from injury of Emre Can will add some much needed legs to the central midfield and could mean Daniel Sturridge has a better chance of starting. Not that the striker has done much on the European stage. He may have 51 goals in 88 games for Liverpool but he’s managed just one goal in eight European appearances. Include his time at Manchester City and Chelsea and his record of 3 goals in 32 European games doesn’t inspire confidence. That’s not to say he won’t score but the 7/2 on him hitting the first goal of the game doesn’t exactly scream value at .
James Milner, Philip Coutinho and Adam Lallana all have two apiece in this season’s Europa League and according to the stats they offer better value than Sturridge.