Liverpool go into the unknown in Europa League Draw

Reds start in third qualifying round of Europa League

Liverpool now know their fate for finishing seventh in the Premier League last year, and missing out on the Champions League. They will face either Macedonia side Rabotnicki, or Mika from Armenia in the Third Qualifying round of the Europa League. The fixture for the home leg of the tie, is at Anfield on July 29th, and the return fixture is on August 5th. Should Liverpool win their way through that, then they will face a two leg play-off to get into the Group Stage of the tournament. This is quite a fall from grace for the Anfield outfit, which have been enjoying the European high life in the Champions League over the past seasons. They failed to get out of the group stage in last year’s Champions League though, and ended up joining the latter stages of the Europa League, where they failed to make the final after running into Diego Forlan’s Atletico Madrid.

This will be the first test of Roy Hodgson’s managerial career at Liverpool, after moving from Fulham in the summer, following the departure of Rafa Benitez. Hodgson is apparently set on keeping Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, supposedly telling them that they are not going anywhere. Those are quite bold words, as it is hard to see them rejecting a multi million pound deal for Torres if it comes in for the Spanish striker. The future over Argentinean Javier Mascherano is still uncertain, as Hodgson has been able to get a hold of the midfielder, who has been linked with moves away. The biggest transfer rumours will continue to be around Torres, who is still recovering from injury. Liverpool are in financial difficulties, and the club is up for sale, so deals for their star striker Torres could be very tempting. The future of both he and Gerrard could all depend on how well Liverpool get off to the start of their new season. Should they be flailing in the league again come the January transfer window, it may be even harder to hang on to them if Hodgson manages to keep them both for the start of the season.

Liverpool are 12/1 at Stan James to win the Europe League, while other English representatives in the tournament Manchester City (15/2 at Coral), and Aston Villa (25/1 at SkyBet) both enter into the tournament at the Play Off stage, which comes after the third round of qualifying (where Liverpool are starting). Other big names in the tournament are Italian giants Juventus (14/1 at Stan James) and last year’s winner’s Atletico Madrid (16/1 at Stan James).