LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER City must find a way to break down their opponents tomorrow night to advance in the Europa League after both settled for 0-0 draws away from home last week.
For Liverpool, who hosts Sparta Prague, winning the competition is the only realistic chance of ending a dismal season with a trophy. The Reds are out of both domestic cup competitions and sit sixth in the Premier League standings.
“We’ve got to win the game tomorrow night first. We don’t need to run too fast,” Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said earlier. “Sparta are a difficult side to break down, that was shown last week. I don’t think they will be too different to what they were, but hopefully we will be different.”
Dalglish won’t be taking any risks on the fitness of captain Steven Gerrard, who has missed the last two matches with a groin injury.
While Sparta looked more threatening than Liverpool last week, the Czech side is expecting a tougher match at Anfield. Sparta coach Josef Chovanec said:
The system of our play will change. Liverpool will surely be more active, aggressive.
Man City, which faces Greek club Aris and hasn’t won a title since the 1976 English League Cup, is third in the Premier League and still in the FA Cup.
Four other matches are also level: Villarreal were held to a 0-0 draw at Napoli, Rangers drew 1-1 at home with Sporting Lisbon, Paris Saint-Germain salvaged a 2-2 draw at BATE Borisov and Lille were held by PSV Eindhoven by the same score.
Lille head to the Netherlands after Montpellier inflicted the French league leader’s first domestic loss in four months on Sunday.
Only 1,000 Lille fans are expected to travel but a high security operation is expected after PSV fans clashed with riot police in France.
Eindhoven mayor Rob van Gijzel has given police emergency powers, including outlawing the carrying of glass or other potential weapons around Philips Stadium.
German efficiency
Bayer Leverkusen are in the strongest position to advance after winning 4-0 at Metalist Kharkiv, while Dynamo Kiev also scored four away goals last week to earn a 4-1 lead over Besiktas. FC Twente hold a 2-0 lead over Rubin Kazan and Dutch rivals Ajax have 3-0 cushion against Anderlecht.
But others are closer. Benfica travel to Stuttgart with a 2-1 lead, but the Portuguese side haven’t won at a German club in 18 attempts. Zenit StPetersburg must overturn a 2-1 loss at Young Boys, Spartak Moscow lead FC Basel 3-2, and Lech Poznan takes a 1-0 lead to Braga after Artjoms Rudnevs’ fifth goal in this season’s competition.
