Liverpool vs LASK Prediction and Betting Tips: Side with Gravenberch in the shots market

Liverpool face LASK in the Europa League at Anfield on Thursday with the visitors looking to bounce back from their 3-1 defeat in the teams' first group stage meeting.

Heading into Matchday 5, Liverpool are currently top of the Group E table on nine points, while LASK's three points places them fourth. Should the visitors fail to win on Thursday they will no longer mathematically be able to qualify for the knockout stage of the competition. 

When it comes to Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp’s side need to avoid defeat on Thursday to confirm a top-two finish in the group.  A win against LASK, which would be their eighth in a row at Anfield in the Europa League, would also guarantee top spot if Toulouse fail to beat Union Saint-Gilloise.

Both of my selections on Thursday centre around Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch. The former Bayern Munich and Ajax man should start the game as part of a three-man midfield for The Reds and the first selection I’m touting is for him to register Over 1.5 Shots in the match. 

No side has scored more goals in the Europa League group stage than Liverpool, who have netted on 12 occasions along with Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen. The Reds have enough depth in their squad to go deep into this competition and a comfortable victory should be on the cards on Thursday.

I can see them racking up the shots against the Austrian outfit here, especially considering LASK have faced at least 10 shots in all four group matches so far. Liverpool let off 13 in the reverse fixture and that could well rise in front of their own fans.

Gravenberch is not afraid to shoot from distance with 57% of his attempts coming from outside the box across all competitions this season. On his most recent Europa League outing he let off four shots against Toulouse, and on Matchday 2 he registered three at home to Union SG. 

I think we’ll see a similar total to those in this clash, and I’m shocked to see 13/10 available with BetMGM for him to register Over 1.5 shots. Sky Bet have this same selection priced at just 1/3 and I think BetMGM’s offering could shorten drastically once team news is announced. 

As is often the case, if a player is perceived to be overpriced in the shots market, then he may be overpriced in the anytime scorer market also. This seems to be the situation with Gravenberch, who at the time of writing is chalked-up at 7/1 to get his name on the scoresheet.

The 21-year-old has scored in two of his three Europa League appearances for Liverpool this season, with goals against Toulouse and Union SG. William Hill are 3/1 that he makes it three goals in Europe this season, while most other firms go 7/2 giving plenty of appeal to the considerably bigger offering from BetMGM.