Had things gone Liverpool’s way on Thursday night and they’d booked their passage from the Europa League group stage, the visit of LASK to Anfield at the end of this month could’ve been a low-key affair.
Instead, with the Reds having a point to prove and work to do following their defeat in Toulouse, the Austrians’ visit to Merseyside has taken on greater importance – and the flames may have been stoked further by comments from their coach.
Despite LASK reviving their European campaign with a win over Union Saint-Gilloise, the result in France harmed their prospects of making the knockout rounds, and their manager Thomas Sageder accused Jurgen Klopp of fielding a weakened team two days ago.
Speaking to Sky Sport Austria (via Kicker), the 40-year-old said of his Liverpool counterpart: “What can I say? I’m starting to dislike him, now he’s putting together a squad and here he’s criticising the groundskeeper.”
The latter point was a reference to Klopp’s unhappiness with the playing surface at the Raiffeisen Arena when the Reds won 3-1 there in September, although a subsequent statement from LASK acknowledged ‘a construction defect in the substructure’ which ’causes problems with the drainage’ of the pitch (Volksblatt).
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These comments from Sageder don’t come across well, as it’s Klopp prerogative to field whatever team he wishes for Liverpool’s Europa League fixtures.
Six players who started in Toulouse on Thursday also began the win over LASK two months ago, so it’s not as if our team in France was significantly weaker than the one in Austria. Also, the Reds’ European line-ups have been heavily rotated from domestic action for all four group games so far.
It’s not as if LFC wanted to lose in midweek either, particularly when a win would’ve confirmed us as group winners and enabled us to rest all our established first-team players for the final two matches.
Sageder will certainly have his players fired up to give Liverpool bloody noses at Anfield on 30 November, but his comments might also add to Klopp’s motivation to put the 40-year-old back in his box and fire up his team to get the job done convincingly when the Austrians come to Merseyside.
It could be lively between the two technical areas that night!
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