The Reds have never played FC Utrecht before in a competitive match, but the two sides contested a couple of pre-season friendlies in the 1970s. Liverpool were the victors on both occasions, in 1972 through a Steve Heighway goal and in 1975 through Peter Cormack and John Toshack. Utrecht are no strangers to European football however, having played a total of 36 games in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, winning 13, drawing seven and losing 16.
Liverpool have a decent history against Dutch opposition. In recent years, the Reds have a very strong record - they met PSV Eindhoven in the group stage of the Champions League in 2008/09, running out 3-1 winners both home and away. The Anfield fixture was particularly notable as it marked both Rafael Benitez's 250th game in charge of LFC as well as Steven Gerrard's 100th goal for the club. Liverpool also met PSV in the same competition back in 2006/07 in both the group stage and the quarter-finals, winning three games and drawing one.
Aside from two 1-0 wins over Vitesse Arnhem in the UEFA Cup 3rd round in the 2002/03 season, Liverpool's earlier games against Dutch teams were far more troublesome. A 2-2 draw at the Olympic Stadium against AZ Alkmaar in the 2nd round of the European Cup in 1981/82 made for a nervy return leg at Anfield, but the Reds pulled through with a 3-2 win, the goals coming from Terry McDermott, Ian Rush and Alan Hansen.
And then there is the small matter of Ajax way back in 1966/67 in the 2nd round of the European Cup. The Reds were taught a footballing lesson on a foggy night in Amsterdam, losing 5-1, with a late consolation from Chris Lawler the only bit of hope to cling to for the return tie. Despite Shanks' post-match bravado ("I wasn’t too impressed with Ajax. They got lucky. Next week in Liverpool we’ll beat them 7-0."), the Reds could only muster a 2-2 draw at home and were knocked out 7-3 on aggregate.
Liverpool
Forward David Ngog is loving European football this season, smashing five goals in five Europa League games to date. Having come on from the bench in the second half against Sunderland last weekend, it is likely the young Frenchman will feature from the start against Utrecht.
Utrecht
Although Ngog's five in five is impressive, Utrecht have a man who has six goals in seven Europa League games. That is the tally of the wonderfully-named and highly-coveted striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel so far this season. With another seven goals to his name in the Dutch Eredivisie already in 2010/11, the Reds will do well to keep the wolf from the door.
Injuries/suspensions
Liverpool have two absentees at left-back, with Fabio Aurelio (achilles) now joined on the sidelines by Paul Konchesky (hamstring).
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