Liverpool’s Europa League group stage was an interesting affair.
The journeymen have been effective in the U21 matches despite their regular travels. Jurgen Klopp’s side against Union SG had the lowest average age of any Liverpool team in European competition history.
You are right. Top spot and Manchester United ahead as the infamous match unfolds. Some stars did not travel to Belgium. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson all stayed at home. Despite this, Klopp’s side have raised eyebrows in terms of strength, with the likes of Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Wataru Endo, Cody Gakpo and (perhaps most surprisingly) Ibrahim Konate. Ryan Gravenberch, Joe Gomez and Darwin Nunes also earned minutes by the end of the night. But if Klopp cares about the result, the balancing act hasn’t worked. Union SG won 2-1 but still did enough to finish third in the group.
All Liverpool players will make a quick switch to Manchester United on Sunday. Klopp will not judge his young forwards too harshly ahead of this game and will now forget about the Europa League until March. But not all clubs have this luxury.Liverpool’s loss to a weakened side served as a warning to Manchester United. And any other team hoping to finish in the top four of the Premier League is doubtful.
Ange Postecoglou and Spurs are currently fifth, with Eric Ten Haag’s side one place behind and Newcastle just below. When UEFA announced that the two best-performing countries in European competition would qualify for next season, they would not be looking to finish fifth in the Champions League.
But after what proved to be a difficult week, with Newcastle and Manchester United both knocked out of the Champions League group stage, Liverpool have been dealt another potential blow. If Liverpool get a result, England will be back in the competition. West Ham and Brighton are in the top two of the season thanks to wins elsewhere. But while the defeat at Anfield didn’t matter, the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham continue to sweat for extra places. A trip to Italy and Germany is currently underway.For a mixed Aston Villa team, a win instead of a draw with Zrinski would be enough to propel them up the English table.
Unai Emery may look back with some regret at the end of the season, but his side currently sit in the traditional top four, five points clear of Postecoglou’s men and heading for a Champions League spot. Manchester United are struggling to stay ahead of Liverpool in Europe, but that is where they are. The failure of the intercontinental competition itself to finish in the top four of the Premier League means they have lost control of their own destiny.
Unlike the Reds or Aston Villa, they have a tough task ahead of them.The complexity of the points system in the Europa League and Europa League play-off rounds will further affect Tottenham, United and the rest of the chasing teams. The England team will not have a representative for this match as they are not ranked second or third in their group, Milan and Rome will have the opportunity to slightly extend Italy’s advantage while Freiburg and Frankfurt will do the same for Germania can. Of course, this is still not surprising as both the Premier League and European competitions still have a long way to go. Postecoglou is backing Spurs to finish in the top four due to injury,
while Manchester United and Newcastle could also have plenty of absentees. Liverpool could be relegated to old rubbish even if they focus on bigger things. However, if a loss to the Union means denying their opponents a place in next season’s Champions League, an “uneven” performance could have very comical consequences.
