Rabotnicki v Liverpool
Football : Europa League, 3rd Qualifying Round
Thursday 29 July 2010 - Kickoff 7:45pm

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Rabotnicki

While their opponents may be playing their first competitive game of the 2010-11 season, Rabotnicki have already bustled their way through 2 rounds of Qualifying for this tournament and are now hoping for a huge shock. The Macedonians finished 2nd in their domestic League last season, finishing 5 points behind the eventual winners. They finished with a 7-4-2 record at home.

They did have to come through 2 rounds, as I mentioned, to reach this stage and this opportunity. Rabotnicki have disposed of Lusitanos of Andorra 11-0 on aggregate before scraping through against Mika of Armenia 1-0 over the 2 legs. The side did reach this stage of the Europa League last season before they were dismissed by Odense of Denmark after losing both legs.

Rabotnicki have played English opposition before- they lost out against Bolton Wanderers 2-1 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup 3 years ago.

The Macedonian side is mostly made up from players from their own country with a healthy sprinkling of Brazilian nationals. They have lost Dusan Savic who scored 12 goals for them in the League last season and Bobi Bozinovski who scored 15 League goals.

Liverpool

Liverpool removed Rafa Benitez as manager this Summer and replaced him with Roy Hodgson who has the task of revitalising this squad. Steven Gerrard has committed his future to the club and reports suggest Fernando Torres will also stay although Javier Mascherano is set to move on. There is a lot of upheaval at Anfield at the moment and this game is an unwelcome distraction as we get closer to the big kick off in the Premier League.

The Reds will be desperate to improve on their 7th placed finish from last season, a year removed from pushing Manchester United all the way in their chase for their first League title since 1990. Liverpool finished with a 8-6-5 away record in the Premier League last season. They also did not have a great time away from home in Europe and finished with a 2-1-4 record in those games. However, many of those were against sides far superior to the opposition they will face on Thursday evening.

Roy Hodgson has started making changes to the squad to suit his beliefs since taking over the job. Danny Wilson, Milan Jovanovic and the must sought after Joe Cole have all come into the squad with the promise of more to come. Emiliano Insua has been told he can leave and is discussing a move to Italy, while others like Mascherano and Maxi are being linked with new clubs.

The most important 'signing' Hodgson may have made is persuading Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard to stay at the club.

Roy Hodgson indicated last week that he was not going to play any of his senior players, especially those that played in the World Cup, but the lead up to this game seems to have led to a change of heart.

A disappointing performance in a pre-season game at Kaiserslautern with the younger members of the squad seemed to indicated that Liverpool would play a few more senior players in this game but Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Joe Cole and Glen Johnson have all been left at home.

Predicted Liverpool starting line up :
Cavalieri, Kyrgiakos, Agger, Skrtal, Kelly, Lucas, Aquilani, Amoo, Spearing, Ngog, Jovanovic.

Prediction

Rabotnicki should be looking forward to this game as it is the biggest they have played in Europe in their history as they welcome a 5 time European Cup winner to Macedonia.

The side already made it clear that the mere fact that Liverpool are coming to town has brought in great interest from their fans although it does lead me to question how much belief they have that they can win this game.

The visiting line up above does not fill me with confidence and the odds for a Liverpool win are far too short in my opinion. I do think they will come back with a win, although it will be a tough evening for them and I will play Draw HT-Liverpool FT.

Remember to keep stakes reasonable though, this is obviously a first leg that does not concern Liverpool too much as I am sure they believe they can finish this at Anfield next week even with a narrow defeat.

The Pick :

Rabotnicki 1-2 Liverpool

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Play a HT/FT bet - on the Draw HT - Liverpool FT

The best price is 4.50 at BetFred, Ladbrokes, Victor Chandler.