IT'S off to France for wounded Liverpool in their opening Europa League encounter. Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) gives us his betting views on the game.
Bordeaux v Liverpool | Thursday 18:00 | BT Sport Europe
Brendan Rodgers must be cursing his luck here. Two bad defeats in the Premier League and now an awkward trip for a match in a competition he's unlikely to care about too much.
As he knows, he'll be judged on his Premier League results and bar a group elimination the Europa League won't hold much stock for him. Even if they sit P4 W4 in this group but lie bottom half of the Premier League come early November he'll still get the bullet. These matches offer much to lose and little to gain.
Liverpool looked like a mid-table side on Saturday at Old Trafford, bereft of ideas and a plan, they lost 3-1 to rivals Manchester United and the heat was turned up on their manager Brendan Rodgers.
After last season's pitiful efforts in Europe (out of the Champions League groups and last 32 of the Europa League) there is much for Liverpool to prove here but it looks like Rodgers isn't too bothered.
Key players Christian Benteke, James Milner, Nathaniel Clyne, Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren and Lucas Leiva will all not travel to France and instead continue preparation for their weekend Premier League match.
Opponents Bordeaux finished sixth in last season's Ligue 1 and lost just two of their 19 home league matches. They've won just one of their five matches this season but did pick up an excellent point away at PSG last weekend.
Willy Sagnol's side went far in the competition back in 2013 but struggled the year after. You get the impression they'll be taken this game a bit more seriously than their opponents though.
As mentioned above, the Stade De Bordeaux proved a bit of a fortress for the French side last season with wins over six of the Top 8 in Ligue 1 recorded there. Top 5 sides PSG, Monaco, Marseille and Saint-Etienne were all beaten there so why should they fear Liverpool?
The bookmakers are finding it hard to split the sides and have Bordeaux as narrow 17/10 favourites while Liverpool are best price 19/10 with Sportingbet.
When you think about it there are loads more reasons to get with the French side here. They're strong at home, Liverpool have brought a shadow side and overall they're not in a good place. At 10/11 Bordeaux make real appeal on the Draw No Bet market. I can't see them losing here.
Best Bets
Bordeaux v Liverpool – Bordeaux Draw No Bet (10/11 William Hill)
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