MATCH PREVIEW: Liverpool V FC Sion

Image via The Hard Tackle
It's Thursday tomorrow and you know what that means... Another Europa League tie for the Reds. Whilst it's particularly difficult to get excited about a visit from FC Sion it's important for Liverpool to collect a win because anything other than victory would quite frankly be embarrassing.

With one eye on a massive Merseyside derby though, Brendan Rodgers has already hinted that he will be fielding a weaker side having stated Daniel Sturridge will not feature. Whilst I think this is a sensible idea especially considering Sturridge has only just returned, I fear that reducing the strength of the squad drastically could backfire for Brendan.

If you want to know more about FC Sion, you can read my Europa League round up post over on Shoot. A fact I've learnt since then however is that Gennaro Gattuso used to play for them and even had a spell as player manager!

Form wise, both clubs are arguably having unsteady spells. In their last six in all competitions FC Sion have won three and lost three. Liverpool have picked up three draws, two losses and a win most recently against Aston Villa.

Kopites will remember our last meeting with a Swiss side after Basel sealed our demotion from the Champions League to the Europa League. Many will bat off Swiss opposition as a banker but it honestly wouldn't surprise me if Liverpool managed to fluff it up on Thursday.

The last time FC Sion appeared at Anfield was in October 1996 in the European Cup Winner's Cup. The game ended in a 6-3 victory for the Reds with McManaman, Barnes, Fowler (x2), Berger and Bjornebye on the score sheet.

I asked you for your score predictions for this one and here are a few of the tweets I received:
I probably won't be having bets tomorrow because I'm back to being a poor student this year and I'd rather bet on the Merseyside derby haha! However I like so many of you that tweeted in, I will be pumping for a 2-1 win for Liverpool.

I don't want us to concede but I can just see it happening, I just hope Liverpool can secure a win because we definitely need it.

Enjoy the match folks wherever you are watching!

P.s. Thank you to everybody who voted for the blog, I find out if I've made it on to the shortlist for best established blog shortly!