How Liverpool can qualify for Europa League knockout rounds on matchday five
- Liverpool are in a strong position in their Europa League group
- Reds can qualify for knockout stages on matchday five
- Topping the group is important because it means a bye to last 16
Liverpool are on the brink of the Europa League knockout rounds ahead of their matchday five encounter with Austrian side LASK at Anfield on Thursday night.
Jurgen Klopp's team won their opening three games against Union Saint-Gilloise, LASK and Toulouse before suffering a shock defeat against the latter on matchday four last time out.
Yet with a five-point cushion back to third place Union in the standings, group leaders Liverpool are in a strong position as they prepare to play their penultimate match.
If Liverpool beat LASK, they will automatically book their place in the next phase of the competition, regardless of what happens in the group's other fixture or any results on matchday six. The Reds would have 12 points and couldn't be overtaken by both Toulouse and Union no matter what.
If Liverpool only draw against LASK, or even lose, they can still get through to the knockouts on matchday five as long as Union don't win against Toulouse. But that leaves the Reds vulnerable to being leapfrogged by the French side, who could go top if Liverpool are beaten.
There is also more at stake than purely qualifying for the next phase as one of the top two. The way the Europa League works is that winning a group is more incentivised than it might be in the Champions League as there is not just a seeded place to achieve.
Due to eight clubs dropping down from the Champions League, the Europa League has an additional knockout round between the group stage and the last 16 - but not all clubs have to play in it. Finishing first in a group serves as a ticket to bypass this extra round and go straight into the last 16.
The Europa League group runners-up, however, will first have to play a two-legged knockout tie with a Champions League dropout. When fixture congestion is already a problem, reducing the number of games required to play while still progressing in a competition is ideal.
Even though it is enough to get out of the group with a game to spare, victory over LASK on its own won't guarantee Liverpool first place on matchday five. To achieve that with a game to spare next month, Klopp's side have to beat LASK and also hope Toulouse fail to beat Union.
In that scenario, Liverpool would have 12 points and Toulouse would have a maximum of eight points, leaving too much of a deficit to be overturned in the final round of games.
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