Liverpool go into Sunday's match at Anfield behind their opponents Stoke City in the Premier League table but with two games in hand on the Potters.
The Reds know that victory will see them move up to at least eighth and possibly seventh depending on Southampton's result on Saturday.
Liverpool
© AFPStill adrift of the European spots then, but Liverpool are doing well in this season's Europa League having held tournament favourites Borussia Dortmund to a 1-1 draw in the opening leg of their quarter-final on Thursday night.
All the talk beforehand was about Jurgen Klopp making his first return to his former club since leaving last summer, and his side took the lead through Divock Origi in the first half before Mats Hummels's header restored parity.
With an away goal and a second leg to come at home, Liverpool will fancy their chances but unfortunately there was some bad news for Klopp and possibly England too on Friday when Reds captain Jordan Henderson was confirmed as out for the rest of the season with a knee ligament injury sustained at the Westfalenstadion.
The 1-1 draw in Germany followed the same scoreline against the side that Dortmund convincingly beat in the last round, Tottenham Hotspur. Philippe Coutinho put the Reds in front against high-flying Spurs, who then hit back through the league's top scorer Harry Kane.
Liverpool and Merseyside neighbours Everton are the two teams still with eight games of the season to play and winning their game in hand on Manchester City would move them to within six points of the top four.
A point was regarded a solid outcome against second-placed Spurs, but Liverpool have now dropped a league-high 17 points from winning positions and 13 of those have come since Klopp took charge.
The results at home do not make for good reading either. Although Liverpool have suffered just one defeat in their last eight Premier League games at Anfield, they have drawn more than they have won in that time and of Klopp's 10 league games at home, the Reds have won just three.
On a more positive note, the Reds have scored 16 goals in their last six league games.
Recent Premier League form: DWWWLD
Recent form (all competitions): WWDLDD
Stoke
© Getty ImagesThe Potters enter this match having lost just one of their last seven matches, all in the top flight, but they would have been disappointed to not pick up three points on matchday 32.
Goals from Ibrahim Afellay and Bojan Krkic had Mark Hughes's side two up at home to Swansea, who fought back in the final quarter of the contest to take a point back to South Wales.
Afellay's goal, on his 30th birthday, came in the 13th minute and Stoke have now netted a joint league-high eight goals in the first 15 minutes of their games this season, which equates to an outright high 22% of their total goal haul.
A leaky defence is not something usually associated with Stoke, but they were unable to see out the result and that made it just one clean sheet in their last 10 league games.
Looking ahead to this weekend, the Potters have only won four of 14 matches against fellow top-half sides and Hughes is yet to win a league match at Anfield in nine previous attempts (D4, L5).
However, Stoke are now unbeaten in three on the road (W2 D1) after losing each of their three away league games before that.
Recent form: WWDLWD
Team News
© AFPHenderson's injury, coupled with a two-game domestic suspension for Emre Can, means that Joe Allen should come in and play defensive-midfield alongside James Milner.
Klopp's decision to opt for Origi over Daniel Sturridge paid off against Dortmund, but the latter is expected to return here and perhaps for good reason having scored three and assisted three in six Premier League games against Stoke.
Hughes could have plenty of late decisions to make, with regular starters Ryan Shawcross, Geoff Cameron and Xherdan Shaqiri all rated at around 75% to be fully fit for the weekend.
Glenn Whelan is less likely to make it as he struggles with a back problem, while Marko Arnautovic is also questionable.
Jonathan Walters has a fine record in matches against Liverpool – against no side has the Irishman scored more Premier League goals – but he is out with a knee injury, so Joselu could again lead the line.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Mignolet; Flanagan, Lovren, Sakho, Clyne; Allen, Milner; Lallana, Firmino, Coutinho; Sturridge
Stoke possible starting lineup:
Haugaard; Bardsley, Cameron, Wollscheid, Pieters; Adam, Imbula; Afellay, Bojan, Shaqiri; Joselu
Head To Head
Liverpool have won four of their last five league meetings against Stoke, with the other game being a 6-1 loss on the final day of last season.
Stoke's 1-0 win on Merseyside in the League Cup semi-final second leg in January ended a run of 36 games without winning at Anfield (D5 L31). They went out of the competition on penalties, though, and have never won away at Liverpool in the top flight.
This will be the fourth meeting this season between the two and each of the previous three has ended 1-0 to the away team.
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We say: Liverpool 1-1 Stoke
Liverpool have only been victorious in one of their seven league games directly after a European match this season and a well-rested Stoke side just might get something at Anfield.
