Liverpool Coach Andoni Iraola says he has “100% confidence” in forwards Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz despite their slow starts to the season.
The Reds were soundly beaten by Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday and assume LASK in the Champions League on wednesday
Liverpool spent around £220m on Wirtz and Barcola but have yet to get a huge return on their investment.
Wirtz has scored five Premier League goals in 15 months, with none so far this season, and has been criticized by Jamie Carragher earlier this seasonwhile Barcola has yet to find the back of the net for the Reds.
“Bradley and Florian have had good and bad games this season, but we know their level and we are sure they will give us good performances,” said Iraola.
“The responsibilities are the same as the other senior players in the squad. The performances are exactly the same. Sometimes we have to focus on more than just the numbers.”
“The other day I was happy with a lot of things with Bradley. We had good situations, we didn’t finish them. But he and Florian are players I trust 100%.”
Iraola has confirmed that key trio Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai remain injured but are “not far” from being able to return to the side.
“We don’t have much time to train, we have to prepare with some videos, tactics and a bit of the ball outside, but we have to prioritize the freshness of the players”, he said.
Liverpool beat LASK twice in the Europa League three years ago, while the last Austrian team to beat an English opponent in a major European competition was Austria Wien against Arsenal in October 1991.
Where to watch LASK Linz v Liverpool: TV broadcasts and online
LASK Linz v Liverpool kicks off at 17:45 BST (18:45 local time) on Wednesday 14 October 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 LINK HERE to find out where to watch it in your region.
