Liverpool enter their first Europa League campaign since reaching the 2016 final, but just how good are the teams they face in the group stages?
The Reds were placed in Group E with LASK, Toulouse and Union SG in the UEFA draw held in Monaco at the beginning of September.
Jürgen Klopp hopes for a steady step towards the eighteenth. Should Liverpool top the group, they would miss out on the last 32 stages. The Reds have trips to Austria, France and Belgium ahead of them, but what can fans expect from the six group matches?
Here’s a quick guide to the teams we’ll be facing in this season’s Europa League ahead of Christmas.
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Director: Thomas Sageder
Main players: Robert Zulj (captain and top scorer), Andres Andrade (midfielder), Florian Flecker (right winger)
Form this season: Austrian Bundesliga 3rd place; 14 points from 7 games; 4 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss
Liverpool begin their European adventure with a trip to Austria to face LASK in what will be the first meeting between these two clubs.
Last season they finished third in the Austrian Bundesliga and secured a place in Group E after defeating Zrinjski Mostar over two legs in the final qualifying round.
This is not the first time that the Austrian has faced in the Premier League. In 2020, they faced Man United in the Round of 16. The two legs were separated for five months due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Man United ended up winning 7-1 on aggregate.
They then also reached the round of 16 last season and will hope to advance from the group given their position in the second pot.
Fun fact: LASK has only one senior international player compared to Union SG’s six and Toulouse’s seven. This player is Andres Andrade, who plays in Panama.
Toulouse
Manager: Carles Martinez
Main players: Zakaria Aboukhlal (right winger, top scorer this season), Rasmus Nicolainen (midfielder), Vincent Sierro (midfielder and captain)
Form this season: 13th in Ligue 1; 6 points from 5 games; 1 win, 3 draws, 1 loss
Last five games: D-D-L-D-W
Unlike LASK, Liverpool have played Toulouse before, meeting in a Champions League qualifier in 2007. Rafa Benitez guided his side to a 5-0 aggregate win in four years en route to a third semi-final.
Toulouse finished 13th in Ligue 1 last season but secured a place in Europe thanks to a surprise victory in the Coupe de France, beating Nantes 5-1 in the final.
Fun fact: fans may remember the current president of the French national team, Damien Comolli (pictured), who served as director of football at Liverpool from 2010-2012.
Union SG
Director: Alexander Blessin
Key players: Dennis Eckert (striker and top scorer), Christian Burgess (former Portsmouth centre-back), Anthony Moris (goalkeeper and captain)
Form this season: 9th in Belgian pro league; 10 points from 6 games; 3 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses
Last five games: L-D-W-W-L
Playing in European competition is like a fairy tale for Union SG, who were in the second tier of Belgian football just three years ago.
They returned to the Belgian Pro League after a 48-year break in the 2021/22 season and cemented their third-place finish in the Premier League last season. Liverpool could also have met them in last season’s Champions League had Rangers not knocked out Union SG in the qualifying round before drawing Liverpool in the group.
The Belgians reached the quarter-finals of last season’s Europa League, but former Red Xabi Alonso ended their run by beating them at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen.
Fun fact: The reunion is a family affair for Alexis Mac Allister and his brother Kevin, who signed for Union SG this summer.
