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It’s advantage Liverpool after a somewhat dour 0-0 1st leg draw in Germany, although the lack of an away goal and their less than convincing home form since Jurgen Klopp took the managerial reins at Anfield means that FC Augsburg are still very much in this tie. It was a strong Liverpool line-up at the WWK Arena, which is a clear indication of how seriously Klopp is taking the competition.
Although Liverpool still have players ruled out, they are certainly not short of attacking options at present. They also benefitted from the rare luxury of having the weekend off, so have no excuses going into the 2nd leg.
Other factors in their favour are that they have never lost at Anfield to German opposition in 14 matches, winning 11 and drawing three of their previous encounters. Injuries are also set to deprive Augsburg of two key players at Anfield, with striker Raul Bobadilla and playmaker Daniel Baier out. They are a hard-working outfit, but those absences leave them looking light from an attacking perspective.
Augsburg did play at the weekend and a 1-0 victory at Hannover eased their relegation worries, with Ja-Cheol Koo’s early goal pushing them four-points clear of the relegation play-off place.
German clubs are rarely easy opposition but Augsburg look limited going forward and Liverpool should have enough to take them through to the last 16.
