7:01PM
Liverpool team to face Toulouse
Starting XI: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Matip, Chambers, Gravenberch, Endo, Jones, Elliott, Nunez, Jota.
Subs : Alisson, Jaros, Van Dijk, Diaz, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Salah, Gakpo, Tsimikas, Scanlon, McConnell, Quansah.
6:51PM
Liverpool back in European action
Jurgen Klopp has declared that he wants Liverpool to make a run deep into this season’s Europa League, but warned against taking tonight’s opponents Toulouse too lightly.
The French side won their domestic cup last season, and their chairman Damien Comolli was once Liverpool’s sporting director between 2010 and 2012. Though a largely unpopular figure on Merseyside, he was in the job during a period which saw Jordan Henderson and Luis Suarez arrive in the transfer market. Toulouse pursue a heavily data-led approach, a strategy that has seen them perform well above their budgetary level.
“We need constantly to find an edge because we have less money than everyone else,” Comolli says. “If we do the same as the other clubs, we will fail. We have to find competitive advantages.”
Liverpool, fourth in the Premier League, take on Nottingham Forest on Sunday, but for now Klopp’s focus is solely on Toulouse.
“I haven’t thought about Sunday yet, to be honest. Toulouse deserve all of our respect. It’s a really interesting story, winning the French Cup last year,” he said.
“This year - a really young team, a really talented team…they have a clear idea - but we have to see how they show up here.”
Winning your group is an important step in the Europa League, avoiding what is effectively a round-of-32 tie against a team dropping down from the Champions League. Group winners go straight through to the last-16, meaning a lighter workload in February.
“We will make a few changes, not too many, we will see, but the boys have shown already that they are ready for the competition,” Klopp said.
“We hope to go long, long, long in this competition, for that we have to make all the decisive steps - and tomorrow night is a very big one.”
Full team news on the way shortly.
