In Linz, where the Danube runs beneath the low Austrian hills, Liverpool arrive with Europe offering a quick change of scenery after a difficult domestic afternoon. Andoni Iraola’s side face LASK at the Raiffeisen Arena on Wednesday, 14 October, with kick-off set for 13:45 Brasília time, in the second round of the Champions League league phase.
The visitors opened their continental campaign with a 2-1 win over Atlético de Madrid at Anfield, giving them an early platform in the competition. That result was followed, however, by a sobering 3-0 home defeat to Manchester City in the Premier League last Sunday. The trip east to Austria therefore brings both the chance to preserve their European momentum and a test of their response away from Merseyside.
LASK have their own need for a result. Dietmar Kühbauer’s team lost 1-0 to AEK Athens in their first Champions League outing and come into the Liverpool match without a win in their previous three Austrian league fixtures. Linz will nevertheless provide a different kind of occasion: a European night against English opposition, with the home side seeking their first points of the campaign.
Team news from Linz
Alisson trained with Liverpool before the journey and is expected to start in goal. Iraola’s likely XI also includes Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Florian Wirtz, while LASK are set to rely on the experience of Sascha Kalajdžić in attack.
LASK are expected to line up with Jungwirth; Jørgensen, Mbuyamba, Alemão, Andrade, Bello; Bogarde, Robert Ljubičić, Horvath; Kalajdžić and Christoph Lang.
Liverpool’s probable side is Alisson; Frimpong, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Rio Ngumoha, Wirtz, Barcola; Lewis Koumas.
The match will be shown in Brazil on TNT, HBO Max and TNT Sports Brasil’s YouTube channel. For Liverpool, the task is to turn a bruising weekend into a productive continental stop; for LASK, it is an opportunity to make a troubled opening fortnight feel rather different under the lights in Linz.
