Europa League Preview: FC Rabotnički v Liverpool
English Premier League club Liverpool FC are set to begin their challenge for Europa League glory against Macedonian club FK Rabotnički in a third qualifying round clash. The first leg will see the Reds visit Rabotnicki’s Philip II Arena in Skopje, the capital of the Balkan country, on Thursday, with the return leg taking place at the 45,362-capacity Anfield on Aug. 5. The teams have never faced each other but will be going all out to emerge victorious and move into the Europa League play-offs, where they will battle to reach the all-important group stage.
Liverpool are in a transitional phase this summer, having seen their 2005 Champions League-winning manager Rafael Benitez depart for Internazionale and Roy Hodgson take over in the close season.
The Reds have two players capable of causing damage to any team in captain and England midfielder Steven Gerrard and Spain striker Fernando Torres. Gerrard has been at the club for his entire career, having signed as a youngster in 1997. The 30-year-old talisman has been the beating heart of all his club’s successes of the last few years, having secured the FA Cup in 2000-01 and 2005-06 and League Cup wins in 2000-01 and 2002-03. He was also a part of the UEFA Cup winning side in 2000-01. Arguably his biggest achievement with the Reds was capturing the biggest prize in club football, after triumphing in the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final. He was named Man of the Match after inspiring his team to come back from three goals down and pick up the trophy after a penalty shoot-out.
Though Torres did not score at the tournament, he was part of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad this year. At club level, he suffered an injury-plagued 2009-2010 season though ended the campaign with 22 goals. The 26-year-old became the fastest player to have scored 50 league goals for Liverpool in December 2009, with a strike against Aston Villa.
In the middle of the pitch, Liverpool have quality in abundance with Holland winger Dirk Kuyt providing ammunition for the strikers and Argentina captain Javier Mascherano anchoring the midfield. Hodgson has also just completed the signing of creative England midfielder Joe Cole, who joined on a free transfer after his contract with Chelsea expired. The club have also secured the services of 18-year-old ex-Rangers defender Danny Wilson for an initial £2m, Serbian striker Milan Jovonevic and midfielder Jonjo Shelvey.
Rabotnički have never made it through the qualifying rounds of either major European competition and Hodgson is facing a team selection problem ahead of the tie. He has been advised by his medical staff that defenders Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher, along with Gerrard, should not play a part in the clash, having just returned from an extended holiday after their World Cup campaign with England. Hodgson told www.liverpoolfc.tv: "It's a little bit of a fight with them to some extent, in order to try and get them to free up more senior players, because their view is very clear that all of these players who are coming back to Melwood (training ground) just after the World Cup shouldn't play in either of the two games.
"My point of view is that I want to go through in the competition and I might need some of these players, so there's a lot of compromise. If our first game was on August 15, I'd take it on face value that they don't want me to use these players in any friendly matches, and instead continue working with them and build up their level of fitness. But of course we've got official matches now and that's the difference."
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