Liverpool's 2023/24 Europa League pot & potential group stage opponents

Liverpool will compete in the Europa League this season for the first time since 2015/16 after finishing fifth in the 2022/23 Premier League.

Jurgen Klopp's Reds have become used to facing Europe's heavyweights but will instead play in UEFA's second-tier competition, which was last claimed by serial winners Sevilla.

It's a tournament Liverpool have won three times in the past - in 1973, 1976 and 2001 - and they also reached the final in 2016 before being beaten by - yep, you guessed it - Sevilla.

Here's what we know about the pots for the 2023/24 Europa League group stage so far and who Liverpool could play once the action starts in September.

What 2023/24 Europa League pot are Liverpool in?

As regular Champions League competitors, Liverpool have the highest UEFA coefficient of any side involved in the 2023/24 Europa League group stage. That puts them in Pot 1 alongside Europa League Conference winners West Ham.

2023/24 Europa League Pot 1

Final pots will be confirmed once qualifying rounds for the Champions League and Europa League end.

Liverpool's 2023/24 potential Europa League group stage opponents

A number of teams are yet to be confirmed as Europa League participants. Three losers from the Champions League play-off round - two from the Champions Path and one from the League Path - will drop into the Europa League while ten play-off winners will also come into the draw.

Sides who are still involved in Champions League play-offs include Royal Antwerp, AEK Athens, Rakow Czestochowa, Copenhagen, Rangers and PSV Eindhoven. Slavia Prague, Ajax and Dinamo Zagreb are among the clubs who are well set to win their Europa play-off ties.

As Pot 1 sides, Liverpool will not face Roma, Villarreal, Bayer Leverkusen or Europa Conference League winners West Ham, though the Reds would not have drawn the Irons regardless as teams from the same nation cannot be paired together.

Jurgen Klopp's side could face Sporting CP or Rennes - depending on whether they drop into Pot 2 based on their coefficients - while Real Betis, Marseille and Molde are also potential opponents. Further down the rankings are Freiburg, Maccabi Haifa, Sturm Graz, Toulouse, Sturm Graz, Toulouse, TSC, Servette and Panathinaikos.

Liverpool's toughest potential 2023/24 Europa League group (according to UEFA coefficient)

Given a number of teams still need to be confirmed as Europa League competitors through qualifying, it's tough to gauge what Liverpool's toughest group would be.

That said, they could be dealt a group with three well-known European sides. Sporting CP have flitted between the Champions League and Europa League but failed to enjoy a decent run in either in recent years, while Marseille - beaten in UCL qualifiers - can be a mercurial and tough opponent on their day.

Freiburg aren't renowned for their experience in European competition but finishes of sixth and fifth in the past two Bundesliga seasons proves they aren't mugs.

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