Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson appears to be ready to gamble on his side’s home form to seal their place in the knockout stage of the Europa League as group winners as he will send out a shadow side for Thursday’s Group K trip to Steaua Bucharest (15/8 to beat Liverpool).
The Reds currently lead Group K (1/16 Group Winner) by three points from Thursday’s opponents following two wins and two draws with just two matches remaining and Hodgson feels it will be a worthwhile exercise to give some youngsters such as Danny Wilson, Daniel Pacheco and Nathan Eccleston a chance to shine in Romania and hand some key men a rest.
“I have faith in the young players and whatever happens on Thursday night I won’t lose faith in them,” said Hodgson.
“But it’s an opportunity for them to force their way into my attention even more.”
As for experience Joe Cole (11/4 Anytime Goal scorer) could be back in the fold after travelling for the game following his recovery from a hamstring injury.
Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger are all unavailable through injury, while Hodgson has confirmed that Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Raul Meireles, Glen Johnson and Paul Konchesky will also stay at home to prepare for the Premier League game against Aston Villa (Liverpool 4/7, Villa 5/1, 13/5 the draw).
In the other game in Group K winless duo, Italian outfit Napoli and Dutch side Utrecht, will meet in the Netherlands with both knowing they must win to have any chance of pipping either Liverpool or Steaua Bucharest to a qualification place and I expect the Italians to do a job on away soil at 11/8.
Thursday’s other crunch games in the Europa League sees Spanish La Liga outfit Villarreal look good to defeat Group D leaders Dinamo Zagreb (4/11 Villarreal To Win) as one point separates the top three sides in a close battle for the knockout stages with two games remaining.
In a Spain versus France battle, Group J leaders Sevilla travel to face Paris Saint Germain in a game that could determine who will top the table ahead of the knockout stage draw.
A win for Sevilla would seal the group leadership, while PSG require three points to take it to the final match, but I feel a draw will be the likely outcome at 23/10.
Italian outfit Palermo must defeat Sparta Prague to keep alive their qualification hopes from Group F and (at 7/10 To Win) I am backing them to see off the Czech Republic side on home soil.
A big game also beckons in Group L as Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia can move to within a point of second-placed Besiktas if they come out on top their encounter on home soil – and (at 2/1 To Win) they look good for some delight against their Turkish opponents.
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