Liverpool will be looking to confirm a top-two finish when they host Toulouse in the Champions League. The French team was sitting third in the group with four points at the halfway point after the Reds thrashed the Coupe de France winners 5-1 during their match two weeks ago at Anfield.
Preview (Toulouse vs. Liverpool)
Les Violets suffered such a catastrophic defeat when they traveled to Merseyside two weeks ago. It was only a few months after Toulouse’s 5-1 thumping of Nantes in the Coupe de France final. It guaranteed Toulouse’s spot in the Europa League. Diogo Jota’s fast start stunned the Kop, but more goals from Wataru Endo, Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah, and Ryan Gravenberch soon turned Toulouse’s dream of playing at Anfield into a nightmare and handed Carls Martinez’s team their first continental defeat of the new season.
Toulouse should not be laughing at their opening draw against Union SG or their 1-0 victory over LASK Linz. If the former wins this week, Les Violets will at the very least be relegated to the Europa Conference League. But Toulouse’s 3-0 Ligue 1 loss to Montpellier HSC three days after being thrashed by Liverpool signaled the start of a depressing three-game losing streak, and on Sunday, newly promoted Le Havre shocked Martinez’s team 2-0 at Stadium Municipal.
After defeating LASK on matchday two, Les Violets have now lost five straight games. If LASK defeats the Belgian representatives, Liverpool will advance to the round of 16. However, over the weekend, their dominance at Kenilworth Road began to erode. Liverpool cut toothless figures in front of the stingy Luton defense. They were stunned by a late goal by Thahith Chong on a game marred by reports of tragedy chants. However, in the midst of his parents’ horrific ordeal in Colombia, returning player Luis Diaz netted an emotional late equalizer.
Jurgen Klopp’s club, who have also been deceptive across the channel recently, had been winning four straight games until the tie with the newly promoted Hatters. The Reds have lost their past four away games against French opponents. Nevertheless, Liverpool’s outstanding display against Toulouse saw the Merseyside giants win three straight games against the Coupe de France winners. The Reds’ only prior home match against the French team came in the 2007–08 Champions League qualifying round, where an Andriy Voronin goal proved to be the game-winning strike in a 1-0 Liverpool victory.
Team News
Toulouse is still lamenting the loss of its winger, Zakaria Aboukhlal. He is unlikely to make a comeback from his knee injury until after the next international break. They also lose out on Oliver Zanden (hip) and Denis Genreau (back). Martinez chose a more attacking style. Frank Magri replaced Moussa Diarra in the starting lineup against Le Havre. Martinez’s five-man rearguard at Anfield did not work out either. This time around the Violets coach should stay with a 4-3-3 formation with the return of Stijn Spierings.
The manager of Liverpool, Klopp, has acknowledged that Stefan Bajcetic’s recovery from a calf issue is still unknown and that Thiago Alcantara (hip) is unlikely to return to play until the beginning of the New Year. Curtis Jones missed the Luton match because of a “minor fitness issue,” but it is possible that he will be able to contribute against Toulouse. Andrew Robertson is still recovering from a shoulder operation.
Toulouse 1-3 Liverpool
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