Liverpool travel to Sparta Praha on Thursday night to contest their round of 16 Europa League first leg match ahead of a huge weekend for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
The Reds host Man City in a massive Premier League match on Sunday and the Merseyside club will have one eye on that fixture during Thursday night’s game.
It is a huge two weeks for Liverpool as the second leg of this tie comes before an FA Cup match against Man United at Old Trafford, meaning if they can rack the scoreline up in Prague, they can rest players ahead of that match with their bitter rivals.
Therefore, tonight is a key game for what is to come and Klopp has made just three changes to the team that defeated Nottingham Forest 1-0 last Saturday.
Virgil van Dijk, Conor Bradley and Bobby Clark come out of the starting 11 and are replaced by Jarell Quansah, Wataru Endo and Darwin Nunez – who scored the winner against Forest and is now back in the starting team.
Liverpool confirmed starting 11
Our team to take on Sparta Prague ?
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 7, 2024
As for Sparta Praha, the Czech club sit top of their league and came through Galatasaray to reach this stage of the Europa League.
Brian Priske’s team face a huge task to get a result tonight but come into the clash with Liverpool in good form and drew 0-0 with city rivals Slavia Praha on Sunday.
The Danish coach has also made three changes to his team from the one that played in the derby at the weekend and they will be hoping to cause an upset in Prague tonight.
1??1?? SESTAVA | V tomto složení zahájíme úvodní duel osmifinále Evropské ligy proti Liverpoolu ? #acsparta | #UEL pic.twitter.com/7s2EzlCIZI
— AC Sparta Praha (@ACSparta_CZ) March 7, 2024