Liverpool face Augsburg at the WWK Arena in the last 32 of the Europa League on Thursday trading as bet365’s 11/10 favourites to take a lead back to Anfield for the second leg next week.
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They will come into the game full of confidence after beating Aston Villa 6-0 at Villa park on Sunday. “At that point, I’d only been away for four months”, he admitted.
After a mid-season injury glut, Liverpool are getting back to a fully fit squad.
Philippe Coutinho and Divock Origi are in contention to play after recently returning from their own injury layoffs, giving Klopp an array of attacking options.
“We lost Kevin Stewart in training”, Klopp said on Tuesday.
Liverpool know that they would have the weekend off as well since they are out of the FA Cup and would be looking to put out as strong a first team as possible.
Augsburg were founded over 100 years ago but did not play in the Bundesliga until 2011 and are appearing in European competition this season for the first time in their history, although their rise has escaped Liverpool’s players.
The Bavarians have struggled with their key playmaker Daniel Baier out with a fractured ankle since the start of January.
Klopp and his players will hope that Augsburg are as hospitable on the pitch as they have been to the fans in the build-up to the game.
“I like the club and have a lot of respect for the work of Markus Weinzierl”.
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“To be honest, a number of teammates have asked me where Augsburg is located”, former Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Can told Sport Bild.
