MATCH PREVIEW: Bordeaux V Liverpool

Image via telegraph.co.uk
Liverpool are off to the south of France on Thursday evening as they kick off their Europa League campaign against Bordeaux. After suffering a 3-1 loss at the hands of Manchester United at the weekend the Reds will be searching for a win in order to get back on track.

Injuries for Liverpool mean they remain without their captain as Jordan Henderson has travelled to the US for treatment. Also a doubt is Adam Lallana whilst Daniel Sturridge could possibly make a return. The Liverpool Echo has also reported that James Milner and Christian Benteke will not be travelling.

This slightly annoys me because I happen to care about doing well in the Europa League, I don't feel as though a club like Liverpool should just bat it to one side, especially considering we will probably finish outside the top four anyway and this competition offers a route into the Champions League via the back door. I guess I've always been one who supports a quest for any silverware but I can see why some would view it as a hindrance.

Rodgers of course will be more concerned with the Norwich game but his risk of leaving two key players at home could backfire.

Bordeaux have a few injury woes to contend with and it looks as though the likes Cheick Diabate, Cedric Yambere and Lamine Same will remain unavailable. Injury issues have contributed to a relatively poor start from Bordeaux in the French Ligue 1.

The clubs have previously met on just two occasions. The most recent of which occurred on 31st October 2006 and the match proved to be quite a fright for Bordeaux who lost 3-0 and had a man sent off. The previous fixture in France in the Champions League didn't end well for the French side either as Peter Crouch scored the winner in the 58th minute.

Stat Sandwich

  • Liverpool have not won in any of their last five European away games.
  • Bordeaux have won their two European home games this season.
  • As well as failing to find victory in their last five European away games, the Reds have also failed to score in four of them.

I don't really know what to expect from this game to be honest. Liverpool have not been playing well as we all know and that has been with a relatively strong squad. With a change in the team looking likely in France, I'm not sure whether that will benefit us or just make things worse.

Bordeaux are certainly not the team they used to be but we shouldn't rule them out and as Liverpool struggle to find goals I honestly can't see past a 1-0 win here at best.

I asked you for your score predictions and here are a few of the tweets I received:

Enjoy the match folks, wherever you are watching!

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P.s.s Don't forget I'm off to Barcelona so unfortunately there will be no Bordeaux match report, no Norwich preview and no Norwich report. Back to normal as soon as possible!