Match preview coming soon

en Liverpool ended the last
season in fourth position, the
fans were overjoyed.
Champions League nights at
Anfield and in other hallowed
European stadia awaited
them. But there was a small
detail to be ironed out. The
Reds have a playoff to
negotiate before they can
actually participate in the
Champions League group
stage and compete for later
stages. On 4th August, they
found out that their
opponents are going to be
European debutants
Hoffenheim, who ended their
Bundesliga season in fourth
position in 2016-17. This tie
looks both difficult and a bit
easy for Liverpool in both
aspects. The five times
champions will be playing the
debutants, first away in the
Wirsol Rhein-Neckar-Arena on
15th August and then at
Anfield on 23rd August. From
the perspective of experience
of the opponents in European
competition and the distance
to be traveled, this tie appears
favourable for Liverpool.
But then this Hoffenheim side
includes most of the squad
that had a hugely successful
league season in 2016-17.
They collected four points off
Bayern and one each off RB
Leipzig and Borussia
Dortmund, the three teams
above them in the league.
They are led by Bundesliga’s
youngest-ever head coach
Julian Nagelsmann, who has
inspired the team from
relegation battlers to
European competitors. The
team has lost just one first
eleven player in Niklas Sule,
whose move to Bayern
Munich had been agreed
much earlier last season.
They have added Havard
Nordveit from West Ham and
Nico Schulz from Borussia
Monchengladbach.
Liverpool come in to the first
leg of the playoff having
played their first league match
on 12th August. In that first
game against Watford, they
came back from a goal down
to lead by 2-1 and then by
3-2, to eventually concede in
injury time and take only a
point from the winnable tie.
The game highlighted their
continued vulnerability
against set pieces and their
awry defence, including the
lack of creativity in the
midfield in Coutinho’s
absence. These problems will
not disappear overnight as
the Reds head to Germany
and they will need to address
them urgently to ensure that
they do reach the group
stages of the European
competition their fans covet
so much.
INTERESTING STATS
• Liverpool are unbeaten in
their last six encounters
with German opposition;
their overall record reads
P36 W17 D13 L6 F58 A31
(W11 D3 L0 at home, W2
D8 L4 away)..
• The last five European
games at Anfield have
produced a home victory;
in fact, Liverpool are
unbeaten in nine home
matches in Europe, since a
3-0 reverse to Real Madrid
CF on 22 October 2014. In
contrast, they have won
just one of their last 12
European away fixtures (D6
L5), that victory coming at
FC Rubin Kazan on 5
November 2015 in their
UEFA Europa League
group.
• Klopp faced Hoffenheim 16
times as a manager during
his career in Germany. His
record was D1 L1 with 1.
FSV Mainz 05, and W5 D5
L4 with Borussia
Dortmund.
• Hoffenheim’s Nadiem
Amiri, Sandro Wagner and
Kerem Demirbay, together
with Emre Can of Liverpool,
helped Germany win the
FIFA Confederations Cup in
Russia in July.
KEY MEN
Andrej Kramaric
While the media focus is on
Sandro Wagner’s potential
absence from the first leg due
to a minor injury he suffered in
a friendly with Bologna, the
real threat from the German
side comes from their Croatian
forward Andrej Kramaric. He
was their top scorer last
season with 15 goals in 34
appearances. His strengths
include holding on to the ball,
counter attacks and indirect
set pieces – all of which are
Liverpool’s pain points. He
scored 0.6 goals per 90
minutes in Bundesliga last
season and his manager will
be hoping that he starts his
2017-18 campaign in style on
the European stage.
Sadio Mane
In Phillippe Coutinho’s
possible absence, Sadio Mane
is Liverpool’s main goal
threat. Firmino and new
signing Salah are quite
proficient at scoring goals
themselves but as Mane’s
first season for the Reds
showed, he brings an edge to
the Reds’ attack. He has
started the 2017-18
campaign with a bang and
already notched a goal on
Saturday at Vicarage Road.
Jurgen Klopp will be hoping
that the Senegalese winger
continues his goal scoring
form.
TEAM NEWS
Nagelsmann will most likely
miss Sandro Wagner, who
was the second-highest
scorer for Hoffenheim last
season with 11 goals in 31
games. He was substituted
early in the friendly against
Bologna but it remains to be
seen whether he can start
against Liverpool on Tuesday
night. Other than Wagner, the
German side should be at full-
strength and raring to start
their 2017-18 campaign with
a bang.
Jurgen Klopp will be worried a
bit that he is starting what
promises to be a long
campaign with a bunch of
injuries. Adam Lallana
remains sidelined due to
injury, while the in-demand
Phil Coutinho is also likely to
be unavailable due to a back
injury. Daniel Sturridge could
feature on Tuesday but is not
likely to be 100% fit. Nathaniel
Clyne also remains in doubt,
though after the defensive
performance of Saturday,
Klopp will fervently hope that
his first-choice right back
returns as soon as possible.
THE VERDICT
This two-legged playoff can
launch Liverpool’s campaign
or can hobble it badly,
because if they lose the
playoff, they descend to the
now familiar group stages of
Europa League. Klopp knows
this and will throw everything
to get an away goal or two to
ensure an easier home leg.
Having said that, at present it
seems nothing can stop
opponents scoring against the
Reds’ defence, Hoffenheim
definitely have a chance at
scoring a few themselves. It is
a high-stakes game for
Liverpool but for the German
side, it is their first European
experience. I think Klopp and
Liverpool’s European
experience can pull them
through this playoff but the
first leg will be a cagey affair.
TSG Hoffenheim 1 – 1
Liverpool


eplindex.com/80621/hoffenheim-vs-liverpool-playoff-preview-stats-key-men-team-news.html

I cease to be a Liverpool if we crash out of champions league.

Mukina2 this is a front page material.

Good game! wishing looserpool the best...

mokoshalb:
Good game! wishing looserpool the best...

What club do you support ?

luvola:
What club do you support ?

The red part of manchester...

mokoshalb:
The red part of manchester...

No wonder. I hate united

luvola:
No wonder. I hate united

Live stream here: https://www.mokoshalb.com/ucl-hoffenheim-vs-liverpool-live-streaming-link/

100% STABLE!

HOFFENHEIM VS LIVERPOOL LIVE STREAMING (Champions League Qualifier)

http://www.fullgist.com.ng/2017/08/hoffenheim-vs-liverpool-live-streaming.html

Vital away goal. full time 1-2 . second leg to follow at anfield

Hoffenheim 1-2 Liverpool Highlights Champions League Qualifying (Playoff-1st Leg)

http://www.fullgist.com.ng/2017/08/hoffenheim-1-2-liverpool-highlights.html