LASK vs Liverpool simulated to predict Europa League game as Jürgen Klopp’s side dominates

Liverpool’s 2023/24 Europa League campaign gets underway on Thursday night when the Reds travel to Austria to take on LASK.

After a fifth-placed finish in the Premier League, Liverpool missed out on a spot in the Champions League for the first time since 2017, with the Reds being placed in the Europa League instead. It’s the first time Liverpool have played in the Europa League since their 3-1 defeat to Sevilla in the 2016 final, and it remains the only trophy Jürgen Klopp has not won as Liverpool manager.

The Reds are joined in Group E of the competition by Union St. Gilloise, Toulouse and Thursday’s opposition, LASK. The Austrian side currently sits third in its league while Liverpool enters the clash on the back of four consecutive victories.

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So, how could Liverpool fare in their Europa League opener? Let’s take a look.

We simulated LASK vs Liverpool to get a score prediction

To complete this simulation, we used FIFA 23 and updated the squads with the latest injuries, transfers and suspensions. FIFA 23 is not up to date with the latest kits or numbers, so both sides are in the kits from the 2022/23 season.

We predict that the hosts could set up in a 3-4-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Lawal; Luckeneder, Ziereis, Andrade; Flecker, Jovicic, Horvath, Bello; Ljubicic, Zulj, Havel.

We predict that the Reds could line up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Kelleher; Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Endō, Elliott, Gravenberch; Salah, Núñez, Jota.

Liverpool got off to the perfect start in Austria, with Darwin Nùñez breaking the deadlock after four minutes when he slid in Mohamed Salah’s dragged shot at the back post. After going ahead, the domination continued, and Klopp’s side found themselves two goals ahead after just nine minutes.

Diogo Jota made it 2-0 to Liverpool (Image: EA SPORTS)

With Salah seen as the biggest threat in the Liverpool attack, LASK were doubling up on the Egyptian, leaving plenty of space on the right for Joe Gomez to attack. The defender found himself in a great position before finding Diogo Jota in the box with a cross, and the forward guided his header into the far corner to make it 2-0.

Jota almost grabbed a second moments after as Liverpool continued to stamp its authority on the game, but after rounding the ‘keeper, the angle was too tight and the forward could only find the side netting. LASK was really struggling, and the game looked to be put to bed before half-time as Nùñez grabbed his second to make it three for the Reds in the 41st minute.

Darwin Nunez made it 3-0 to Liverpool (Image: EA SPORTS)

Liverpool camped in the opposition half for the first 45 minutes, with Salah often drifting into the center of the box to offer more of an option. The Egyptian played a big part in the goal as he flicked Waturo Endō’s driven pass into the path of Nùñez, and the striker drilled past the ‘keeper at the near post to add a third.

Throughout the second half, the hosts grew in confidence as they looked to grab a goal, and they managed to test Caoimhín Kelleher on multiple occasions, but the ‘keeper was on top form to make some impressive saves. LASK couldn’t find a goal, and the Reds held out for a straightforward three points.

FIFA 23 predicted final score: LASK 0-3 Liverpool

What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments!

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The Reds travel to Austria to take on LASK Linz in the Europa League on Thursday night, with the two clubs forever linked by the sad story of Besian Idrizaj

Long before everyone was welcomed there by Hollywood superstars, Wrexham was a favourite destination for Rafael Benitez.

In each of the first four summers of the Spaniard’s Liverpool reign the Reds would make the short journey to north east Wales to take on the Football League side in their opening pre-season friendly, with the games quickly becoming occasions that the locals would look forward to.

In 2004, in what was Benitez’s first ever Liverpool game in charge, a brace from Anthony Le Tallec gave the Reds a 2-1 win at a time when no-one could have expected what would come next. Fast forward 12 months, and Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher were bringing the Champions League trophy onto the Racecourse Ground pitch before a 4-3 win which featured braces from Fernando Morientes and Milan Baros.

The latter two years of the fixture would see a mixture of squad and youth players feature due to international tournaments and other commitments, but on both occasions they provided Reds fans with a glimpse of the tall teenage forward Besian Idrizaj, an Austrian youth international of Kosovan descent who started 2006’s 2-0 win upfront with Craig Bellamy. Then in 2007 he scored a hat-trick in the first 26 minutes of a 3-2 win. Tongues were wagging.

Idrizaj hadn’t featured in a competitive first-team game since joining from LASK Linz in 2005 after a successful trial, signing a two-year deal with the option of a third, but he was desperate to get the opportunity.

He had initially been spotted by several scouts across the continent at the European Under-17 Championships in France in 2004, a tournament won by the hosts thanks to star turns from Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Hatem Ben Arfa. Idrizaj had joined LASK from the smaller Admira Linz club a year previously, and 2004-05 was to prove to be his big break as he featured 28 times for the first-team. His name was known across Europe, and Liverpool invited him for a trial.

“I have always been a Liverpool fan and it is a dream come true to play for them,” he said after arriving during those heady post-Istanbul weeks for the club. “If you get a chance to go to Liverpool on trial then you have to take it. You cannot ignore a trial with the reigning Champions League winners. I would even have swum across the channel just to take part.”

Having not yet turned 18 the Austrian was always going to be a signing for the youth ranks rather than the first team, and after initially suffering frustrating injuries in his first campaign the 6ft 2ins forward likened to Zlatan Ibrahimovic – his hero both in terms of playing style and personality – settled into Hughie McAuley and Gary Ablett’s second-string side for 2006-07.

It was a squad dripping with talent, with the highly-rated defender Jack Hobbs having signed from Lincoln City, defender Godwin Antwi, who lived with Idrizaj, attracted from Zaragoza, exciting winger Paul Anderson brought in from Hull and Dutch forward Jordy Brouwer arriving from Ajax, all supplemented by emerging local talents Lee Peltier, Stephen Darby, Jay Spearing, Sean Highdale and Craig Lindfield, with those young enough going on to form the backbone of the team that would win the FA Youth Cup that season.

By then Idrizaj was spending the final weeks of the campaign on loan at Luton, playing seven times for a Hatters side bottom of the Championship and scoring once in a 3-1 win at Southend which also relegated the hosts. Calm and composed at Roots Hall, he raced onto a ball over the top and coolly finished with his left foot. It was to be his only English league goal.

He always had north east Wales though, and that day in Wrexham on July 7, 2007 when his three goals arrived within 23 minutes of each other, all of which were set up by Jermaine Pennant, whose cross for the third was met with a powerful Zlatan-esque header by the young forward.

“I still remember the day,” Besian’s brother Qerim told an interview with The Athletic in 2020. “At the time, the internet was not like now and if we called Besian we had to have a prepaid card. He called home afterwards and he said, ‘Did you check the Liverpool website?’ I said, ‘No. Why? What happened?’ He said, ‘Just check it’. He was really proud.

“And it was something to be proud of. So I typed in Liverpool FC and went onto the homepage, and the first story was Besian Idrizaj scores a 23-minute hat-trick. I said, ‘Wow, man. This is amazing? How did you do that?’”

Benitez didn’t think the Austrian was ready for a place in his squad, ominously saying after the Wrexham hat-trick that “he scored three but knows it should have been four, he needs to mature in some aspects of his game.” He wouldn’t feature in another friendly that summer and eventually left for Crystal Palace on loan, a move which didn’t work out due to managerial upheaval in south London, with Peter Taylor sacked and Neil Warnock happy to let the youngster go back to Liverpool.

Idrizaj, now 21 and an under-21 international, decided to spend the latter part of the 2007-08 season back in Austria with Wacker Innsbruck, hoping to catch the eye of the senior team ahead of the European Championships they were joint hosting with Poland.