Liverpool v LASK: Reds to progress in style

• Liverpool aiming to secure top spot

• LASK scored first but lost 3-1 in reverse

• Back Diaz to find the net in Reds victory

Liverpool v LASK
Thursday 30 November, 20:00
Live on TNT Sports 1

Toulouse debacle shows price of complacency

After a dramatic 3-2 reverse in France against Toulouse, Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp was magnanimous, admitting his side deserved to lose the game and with it their 100% record in the group stage. He pointed out his players' lack of intensity, as well as all of the physical challenges they failed to win. Yes, Liverpool's last-gasp equaliser should have been allowed to stand, but that would have rewarded a careless display against determined, fired-up opponents.

Liverpool's hard-fought 1-1 draw with Manchester City at the weekend will have built confidence (it ended a record-equalling run of top-flight home wins for Pep Guardiola's side), but it also came at a cost. Alisson is expected to be out for weeks with a hamstring injury, so Caoimhin Kelleher will deputise. Diogo Jota has also picked up an injury, and the Reds will miss a striker who has scored in five of his last seven appearances.

Liverpool know a win guarantees a place in the knockout rounds, and if Toulouse slip up at Union Saint-Gilloise, Klopp's men would win the group, catapulting them straight to the last 16. The Merseyside giants have every reason to be confident, as their home form is outstanding. Liverpool have won all nine of their competitive home matches this season, and if you stretch back further it's 15 wins out of 17.

LASK have shown they aren't to be trifled with

Although they were eventually elbowed aside by Liverpool in Austria, LASK competed well in the early exchanges on Matchday One, and took an early lead. They have also shown with some eye-catching domestic results that they are a team that can be competitive.

Thomas Sageder's team managed a rare win at perennial champions Salzburg earlier this season, and more recently than that they swept aside a very good Sturm Graz side 3-1. In the Europa League they managed to finally put points on the board last time out with a 3-0 win over Union Saint-Gilloise, and as a result they are still in with a small shot of avoiding bottom spot and prolonging their European adventure.

LASK have some decent players on their books. Playmaker Robert Zulj has had some success in Germany, centre-back Philipp Ziereis used to turn out for St. Pauli in the German second tier, and 21-year-old Croatian midfielder Marin Ljubicic is seen as a rising star. Florian Flecker, who banged in that early goal against Liverpool at the start of the group stage, was previously on Schalke's books in the Bundesliga.

Coach Sageder has been in bullish mood ahead of the game, insisting that his players aren't going to Anfield as tourists, and that they will look to represent the club in a competitive manner. Sascha Horvath and Rene Renner are expected to return after illness, but on-loan Roma talent Ebrima Darboe is injured.

Dangerous Diaz is one to watch

With Liverpool prohibitively short in the Match Odds market, we have to look elsewhere for our selections, and Luis Diaz seems attractively priced in the Anytime Goalscorer market at 6/4.

Despite having to deal with the trauma of having his parents kidnapped in his native Colombia (his mother was quickly recovered, but his father was held for far longer and endured a horrible ordeal before his release), the former Porto winger has somehow found the strength to not only play for Liverpool, but play well. He grabbed a last-gasp leveller at Luton recently, and followed that up with a match-winning brace for Colombia against Brazil. Diaz now has six goals for club and country this term, including a strike in the reverse fixture.

If Diaz starts, he can cause the LASK rearguard all kinds of problems, so back him to score at 2.747/4, or if you want to be more conservative go for Liverpool to win and Diaz to score or assist at 1.774/5.

Flying Ryan can make his mark

Having watched Ryan Gravenberch struggle to make an impact at Bayern Munich last season, I must admit I am surprised to see how quickly he has adjusted to live at Liverpool. The Dutchman was a lively substitute at the Etihad at the weekend, and he's in line for a start here.

That cameo at City brought to an end a seven-match sequence in which Gravenberch had attempted at least one shot, and I'd expect him to get more minutes and more opportunities here. Therefore, let's back Gravenberch to have 1+ shots, Liverpool -1 on the Handicap and Over 7.5 Corners in the match at 1.9210/11 on the Sportsbook's Bet Builder.

Read Jamie Kemp's preview of AEK Athens v Brighton here.