Europa League preview and odds: Liverpool vs Augsburg

Published on: 23/02/2016

Europa League preview and odds: Liverpool vs Augsburg

February 25, 2016 18:00pm - Anfield

Europa League - Round of 32, Second leg

After a disappointing first leg in which neither side took the initiative, Liverpool and Augsburg will continue their UEFA Europa League contest at Anfield with the scores level at 0-0.

Home advantage key for Liverpool

Liverpool will hoping to keep their last realistic route towards Champions League football open when they welcome Augsburg to Anfield on Thursday evening. Having failed to score an away goal, the Reds will need to win on the night to secure their place in the Round of 16.

Big European football nights have been scarce at Anfield in recent years, but there should be a good atmosphere as the fans look to play there part in Liverpool`s revival under Jurgen Klopp.

The Merseyside team have had a full week to prepare for a game for the first time in months due to their absence from last weekend`s FA Cup schedule.

Augsburg eyeing away goal

Augsburg could not make home advantage pay in the first leg, but they did prevent their visitors from grabbing an away goal. Last week`s game was their first ever against English opposition and this week, they will play a competitive match in England for the first ever time.

The German`s are already in unchartered territory, having reached the knockout stages of the Europa League at the first attempt. They will now have to pull off a shock result if they are going to progress to the last 16.

Team news

The home side are still without Lovren, Ings, Gomez, Lucas, Lallana and Skrtel. The visitors will be without Hong Jeon-Ho, Schuster and Bobadilla.

Recent form (All competitions)

Liverpool: DWLDL

Augsburg: WDLLD

Betting odds and tips

Liverpool could not make the breakthrough in the first leg but should have the upper hand on home soil. While the Reds have Coutinho, Sturridge and Origi back in the fold, their opponents have lost their top scorer to injury.

You can back the home win at 4/9 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 23/02/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (23/02/2016 12:32:42) but are subject to change.