With three Premier League games in the nine days that follow this fixture, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers will be tempted to rest some of his star names for the visit of Young Boys.
“I would have loved to have kept them on the side to give them a breather but obviously when you need them you need to put them on,” said Rodgers of Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard when he introduced the pair in the Capital One Cup tie against Swansea.
Unfortunately for the Reds, it could be a similar story once again as they are only joint-second in their Europa League group.
A win here would ensure qualification if Udinese fail to win in Russia. Their Swiss opponents showed potential in a spirited display against Liverpool in the group opener and have grown into the competition since then, pulling off an unlikely double against Udinese.
Even if the home side do find a way of getting past Young Boys in the end, it seems likely that the visitors are at least capable of causing problems early on.
Midfielder Lucas Leiva is still not fully fit as he nurses his way back from the thigh injury which has kept him sidelined since August, and the Brazilian will play for the U21s on Friday as he steps up his rehabilitation.
Young Boys are set to be without Canadian winger Josh Simpson, who suffered a broken leg back in May.
Venezuelan forward Joseph Martinez and goalkeeper Ivan Benito are also missing as they struggle with thigh complaints.
Left-back Christophe Spycher (knee) and centre-half Jan Lecjaks (foot) may play some part at Anfield, but both are rated at 50-50 heading into the continental clash.
Liverpool have only led at half-time in two of their last 10 home games and, given that the line-up for this tie could be one that is thrown together, Rodgers’ team may struggle for fluency before the break.
As a result, the pick of the bets is to back Young Boys not to be behind at the interval. In the second half, it could be a different story and Suarez is to have the final say as last goalscorer.
Other goalscoring bets include Jonjo Shelvey, who scored two goals in the previous meeting between the sides, and Raul Bobadilla, who netted a hat-trick against Udinese.
But for the value bet remember that the first match between these sides finished 5-3 to Liverpool after 90 minutes. That makes the over 4.5 goals this time around look very tempting indeed.
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