Liverpool vs Toulouse

High-flying Liverpool will be looking to maintain a perfect start to their 2023/24 Europa League campaign when they take on Toulouse at Anfield.

Liverpool returned to winning ways in the Premier League with a 2-0 Merseyside Derby triumph over Everton last weekend, arresting a two-match winless streak in the competition (D1, L1). But their first season in the Europa League since a runner-up finish in 2015/16 has been plain sailing, with the ‘Reds’ racking up back-to-back two-goal margin wins over LASK Linz and Royale Union Saint Gilloise at the start of their Group E campaign. Though Jurgen Klopp will likely rest some first-team players, Liverpool’s intimidating record of just two defeats in 15 home European matches against French clubs (W12, D1), including three wins in a row, makes them odds-on favorites to maintain a six-game winning home run at the beginning of 2023/24. Since they also netted multiple goals in each win, another high-scoring contest could be in store.

Against this backdrop, Toulouse’s opening two games in their first Europa League group-stage foray since 2009/10 have been notably tight, with a 1-0 home win over LASK following up a 1-1 draw against Royale Union. After beating the Austrian outfit last time out, ‘La Tefece’ can record two consecutive victories in major European competition for the first time since 1987/88. However, Toulouse’s only previous meetings with English opposition came against Liverpool in the 2007/08 Champions League qualification playoffs, with last season’s Coupe de France winners losing both legs ‘to nil,’ including a woeful 4-0 defeat at Anfield. Avoiding another humiliating result on Merseyside would be a massive coup for Toulouse, especially amid their disappointing 10-game form across all competitions (W2, D6, L2).