The Red Bull Salzburg juggernaut remains the dominant force in the Austrian football landscape, leaving Sturm Graz and LASK to engage in a two-horse battle for the ‘best of the rest’ label, and Liverpool’s upcoming opponents ultimately fell short in their quest for a runners-up finish.
With Sturm Graz advancing to Champions League qualifying, the third-placed Linz crop entered the preliminary rounds of the Europa League at the final hurdle, where Bosnian minnows Zrinjski were bested 3-2 by Thomas Sageder’s troops, who propelled the Black-Whites into the group stages for only the third time.
Only recently making waves in European football, Sturm Graz’s Europa League debut in 2019-20 ended in a last-16 loss to Manchester United, while they failed to make it beyond the group stage a year later, before a shot at Europa Conference League glory in 2021-22 culminated in another early knockout exit to Slavia Prague.
However, on current form, the one-time Austrian champions may fancy their chances of pipping fellow Group E foes Toulouse and Union SG to one of the top two spots in the section – with second place guaranteeing a spot in the knockout round playoffs – as LASK enter Thursday’s opener unbeaten in seven competitive games.
On Saturday, Sageder’s men made it three league wins on the trot with a 3-1 triumph away to Austria Klagenfurt, while they have also prevailed in each of their last four contests at the Raiffeisen Arena, scoring two goals on each occasion and shipping just one in the process.
The hosts’ exploits in front of the home crowd are nothing to be sniffed at, but the calibre of opposition will increase significantly when an in-form Liverpool come to town, having seen their six-year streak of successive Champions League qualifications come to a disappointing end in 2022-23.
It was fitting that serial Europa League winner Unai Emery would be the one to consign the Reds to his favoured competition for the first time since the 2015-16 season, as a 1-1 draw with the Spaniard’s Aston Villa side killed off any wafer-thin hopes Jurgen Klopp’s side had of sneaking into the top four.
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The six-time Champions League winners regularly stepped out to the Europa League anthem between 2010 and 2016 and even reached the final in the latter year, only to fall to Sevilla’s superiority, but Klopp’s men are already the bookies’ favourite to hoist the trophy aloft at the Aviva Stadium.
Liverpool extended their winning streak to four matches at the weekend by coming from behind to prevail for the third time this season, sinking Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 courtesy of Cody Gakpo, Andy Robertson and a Hugo Bueno own goal, thereby cementing a third-place ranking in the Premier League table at this embryonic stage.
Having bit back against Gary O’Neil’s Wolves, Liverpool are now without defeat in 16 competitive fixtures on the trot amid their bid to seal an immediate return to the Champions League, which they could either achieve with a top-four finish or by going all the way in the Europa League, adding another continental honour to their cabinet in the process.
LASK and Liverpool have never squared off on the competitive stage before, but the hosts have only ever avoided defeat in one of their previous four meetings with English sides, holding Tottenham Hotspur to an enthralling 3-3 home draw in the 2020-21 group phase.
