Liverpool travel to Linz looking to make it two from two against pointless LASK

Liverpool head to Austria on Wednesday for their second Champions League league-phase game of the season, facing a LASK side still waiting for their first point of the campaign.

BBC Sport lists kickoff at 17:45, with FotMob and our own schedule putting it at 16:45 UTC, at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz. LASK's own fixture list names the ground as the Oberösterreich Arena and gives a 6:45 PM local start. Whatever you call it, Flashscore puts the capacity at 19,080, so this will be a tight, noisy venue rather than one of the continent's cavernous stages.

It is the sort of fixture Liverpool are expected to win, and the numbers explain why. BBC Sport has them 15th in the table with three points from their opening game, while The Athletic records a goal difference of plus one. LASK, by contrast, sit 27th on zero points with a goal difference of minus one.

A slow start for the Austrians

LASK's league phase began with a 1-0 defeat by AEK Athens on matchday one, according to The Athletic and Flashscore. A narrow loss to Greek opposition is hardly a disgrace, but it leaves them needing something quickly if they are to stay in touch with the places that matter further down the line.

History does not offer them much comfort either. TheScore lists the previous meeting between the clubs as a 4-0 Liverpool win on 30 November 2023. LASK will be hoping the gap has narrowed since then, but on paper the task is a stiff one.

The league-phase format rewards consistency, and early points carry real weight. For Liverpool, a win in Linz would move them well clear of the bottom half before the bigger tests arrive. For LASK, anything at all would feel like a start.

How the teams could line up

FotMob's predicted Liverpool lineup, set out in a 4-2-3-1, reads Alisson Becker, Ronald Araújo, Jérémy Jacquet, Virgil van Dijk, Miloš Kerkez, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz, Rio Ngumoha and Lewis Koumas.

That is a side with experience in Alisson, Van Dijk, Mac Allister and Gravenberch alongside younger names such as Ngumoha and Koumas. If the prediction holds, it suggests Liverpool are prepared to trust their depth away from home in a fixture they will expect to control.

LASK are tipped by FotMob to go with a 3-5-2 built around Lukas Jungwirth, Xavier Mbuyamba, Alemão, Andrés Andrade, Kasper Jørgensen, Robert Ljubičić, Melayro Bogarde, Sascha Horvath, Yvan Dibango, Saša Kalajdžić and Christoph Lang.

A back three with wing-backs and a front two is a familiar shape for a home side hoping to stay compact and strike quickly. Against a Liverpool team that likes to dominate possession, the Austrians will need their midfield five to hold firm and their two forwards to make the most of whatever comes their way.

Tobias Stieler is listed by TheScore as the referee, with Tomasz Kwiatkowski on VAR.

What comes next

There is little time to dwell on the result either way. Liverpool return to Premier League action on Saturday 17 October with a trip to Brentford, kickoff at 14:00 UTC, which means any heavy legs from the journey back from Austria will be tested almost immediately.

LASK are also away on Saturday, visiting Austria Lustenau in the Bundesliga at 15:00 UTC. Their domestic season will carry on regardless, but a first Champions League point against one of Europe's biggest names would transform the mood around the club before that trip.

For Liverpool, the brief is simpler. Win in Linz, climb the table and head to west London with momentum.