Evening all, and welcome to coverage of Hoffenheim v Liverpool, the fixture neither club will have wanted. Hard draws are all very well once the competition proper gets underway; no one wants one prior to it though. This should be excellent, with guaranteed misery and annoyance a week tomorrow. Lovely stuff!
Champions League / Play-off round
PreZero Arena / 15.08.2017
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- M. Uth(88')
- T. Alexander-Arnold(36')
- H. Nordtveit(75' O.G)
Live
Live Updates
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Updated 15/08/2017 at 21:41 GMT+1
1'
Away we go!
19:49
Cannot beat a Euro away in Germany.
19:46
The music is playing. What a tune!
19:46
Out they come!
19:44
The players are gathering in the tunnel.
19:42
Dean Saunders has the certainty of Tony Blair and none of the charm.
19:40
Crucial information:
19:39
Er, great snap.
19:36
"It's a 50-50 game," Klopp also says, and won't explain where Liverpool can improve from the weekend.
19:34
Told it's an important match, Klopp says when was the last not important football match, with some irony. A fine point.
19:30
What's a good result for Liverpool tonight? I guess they'd accept a 2-1 loss.
19:26
Steve McManaman is saying Coutinho might stay at Anfield an extra season like Ronaldo did at Manchester United; this is nonsense. United were strong in Europe, likely English champions, and he was good enough to pick his moment to leave. No aspect of this is transferable.
19:22
So what of Hoffenheim? Their 3-4-2-1 will test Liverpool's defence, Gnabry and Kramaric in particular. I'd not be trusting their markers or those enlisted to cover.
19:19
I know people will say anything, but just the other day, Jurgen Klopp said no one could think of five centre-backs better than those he has. Er, ok mate.
19:14
Liverpool's defence on the other hand; man, Liverpool's defence. Just as well Hoffenheim are no good at set-pieces, eh? They are, you say? Oh.
19:10
The aforementioned BT have just shown a Salah package. He's basically a centre-forward who plays on the wing; if Alexander-Arnold is proper, that's a very useful thing to be indeed.
19:07
He has insinuated himself into BT Sport's coverage. Next: Istvan Kozma.
19:06
When did Dean Saunders become someone anyone wanted to hear from? That is a rhetorical question.
19:04
19:04
Lads. It's not a hashtag UCL game.
19:03