It was a demoralising weekend for Liverpool with the gulf in class between them and Manchester City all too apparent.

The challenge now is for Andoni Iraola’s men to bounce back in Austria against LASK. The Merseysiders have yet to hit top gear under Iraola and another defeat in Linz would set the alarm bells ringing at Anfield.

LASK are living the dream just by being here. Dietmar Kühbauer’s side clinched a historic first appearance in the Champions League league phase with an incredible play-off comeback against Celtic, coming back from 4-0 down in the tie to win 5-4 on aggregate. Their league-phase debut was less memorable, though, ending in a 1-0 defeat at AEK Athens.

The Austrian double winners are in a sticky patch, however. Sunday’s 2-0 home defeat to Rapid Vienna made it four competitive games without a win, and Kühbauer was blunt afterwards, admitting his side had been “far away from a win” and that “Liverpool play well above Rapid.”

Liverpool will have fond memories of this fixture. They beat LASK 3-1 in Linz and 4-0 at Anfield in the Europa League group stage in 2023-24.

Where to Watch LASK Linz v Liverpool: TV and online streams

LASK Linz v Liverpool kicks off at 5:45pm BST (6:45pm local time) on Wednesday, October 14 at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz.

The match is live on TNT Sports in the UK and can be streamed via the HBO Max app.

If you live outside the UK, click the LINK HERE to find out where to watch it in your region.

Stats for LASK Linz v Liverpool

• The teams’ only previous fixtures came in the 2023/24 Europa League group stage, Liverpool winning 3-1 in Austria on Matchday 1 – Florian Flecker scoring LASK’s consolation – and 4-0 at Anfield on Matchday 5, Cody Gakpo getting two goals.
• That made LASK’s record in their six games against English opponents D1 L5; at home it is D1 L2 with four goals scored and 11 conceded.
• Those games against LASK are also Liverpool’s last fixtures versus Austrian opponents and made it eight wins in their ten fixtures (D1 L1). Their away record is W4 D1 with wins in the last four visits, three of them with a clean sheet.
• This is only LASK’s third European Cup campaign. They lost 2-5 on aggregate against Górnik Zabrze in the 1965/66 preliminary round and beat Basel 5-2 on aggregate in the 2019/20 third qualifying round before going down 1-3 to Club Brugge in the play-off round (0-1 h, 1-2 a).
• LASK are the fifth Austrian club to feature in the Champions League proper, after Salzburg, Sturm Graz, Rapid Vienna and Austria Vienna.