Preview & Matchday: Liverpool U19s v. Molde FK U19s

Kickoff from Anfield at 7:00PM BST/2:00PM EST

Ways to Watch:

Match shown live on LFC.tv for eSeason subscribers and TV 2 Sport in Norway.

MyP2P.bz
StopStream.tv
ATDHEnet.tv
FromSport.com
FirstRowSports.eu
KiwiSportz.com

Liverpool:

Belford
McLaughlin Wisdom Smith McGiveron
Coady Roddan
Silva Suso Sterling
Ngoo

Bench:

Molde:

Beinset
Mork Hollingen Hestad Stamnestro
Vagen Bjerkas Wemberg Rindaroy
Cunningham Furu

Bench:

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With only two matches left in NextGen Series group play, Liverpool find themselves vying for the second qualifying spot with Molde and Wolfsburg in Group 2. Group leaders Sporting are the runaway favorites, with a one-hundred percent record thus far and a plus-nine goal differential; the Portuguese side hung six on Molde their last time out while only conceding one, and while nothing’s settled quite yet (both Sporting and Molde have three left to play), you’d have to say that Liverpool’s best chance at progression is as runners-up.

Molde have struggled mightily since their opening win over Wolfsburg, first conceding four at home to Rodolfo Borrell’s squad before surrendering three in each half en route to a 6-1 defeat at Sporting. With their other fixture against Sporting postponed, though, the Norwegian side have a match in hand and a legitimate possibility of working their way into a qualifying position if they can get a result in at least two of the final three matches.

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It’s been a somewhat frustrating tournament thus far for Liverpool—they started with the loss at home to Sporting, which, despite the scoreline, contained more than a few encouraging glimpses of potential. When they followed with a generally impressive 4-0 victory in Norway, things looked to be trending positively, but consecutive disappointing results against Wolfsburg—a 1-1 draw at Anfield before a 2-0 loss in Germany—has left their qualification hopes in doubt.

On paper Rodolfo Borrell’s been able to call on nearly all of his most notable names, with Andre Wisdom, Raheem Sterling, Suso, Toni Silva, Michael Ngoo, and Conor Coady starting each of the club’s first four matches, and Adam Morgan and Krisztian Adjoran featuring off the bench regularly. Like the senior squad, though, they’ve struggled to consistently find a final product, with lost chances playing a prominent role in each of the matches in which they’ve dropped points.

The result last week in Germany makes this a must-win for Borrell’s side, particularly with the trip to Portugal on the cards in two and a half weeks. And as much as we say it’s all about development and not the trophy, it’d be nice to get a more extended look at some of the youngsters that are ostensibly on the cusp; those named above have all been part of the discussion at some point in the past year or so, and getting a little more exposure to those that might be breaking through in the next few seasons would be more than welcomed. It’ll take some doing, but if they’re able to find a way to convert some of the chances they’ve created, it’s certainly doable.

Until kickoff, go ahead and catch up on last week’s match, which contains an unfortunately chronological montage of spurned chances by the young Reds and a terrific opener from Andac Güleryüz for the hosts:

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Category: Team News