Sitting in a precarious position in their Europa League group, Liverpool face off against Rubin Kazan later today still looking for their first win in the competition this season. In second place and four points behind table toppers FC Sion, the Reds will be looking to build on the momentum they’ve generated from their win over Chelsea at the weekend to put some daylight between them and the chasing pack.
“There is huge belief and confidence within the group and that feeling of scoring goals and winning games, you want to keep it,” Liverpool ‘keeper Simon Mignolet told the club’s official website. “That’s why we’re looking forward to the next game. Everybody was very happy with the result against Chelsea, but that’s behind us now and there’s no point thinking anymore about it. We have to move on and make sure we do the same thing against Kazan,” explained the Belgian shot-stopper. “It’s an important game to try to improve in the group and hopefully we can get the three points in Kazan,” said Mignolet, before adding, “It’s not going to be easy away in Russia, but we’ll prepare ourselves to try to get the victory.”
Despite playing with an extra man for the better part of 50-minutes, the Tartars hung on for a point at Anfield in the first leg a fortnight ago. Marko Devic opened the scoring before Emre Can restored parity just before the break, but the Reds were unable to truly capitalise on the advantage.
“After the home game and now we know them a little bit better than in the first game and before Thursday, we’ll analyse the games they’ve played since they came to Anfield so we’re up to date with everything, and we’ll make sure we’re ready on Thursday,” continued Mignolet. “Like any team who plays in Europe, any game you play is a tough one, especially away to Kazan. It’s never going to be easy – it’s going to be a tough fixture for us because they showed what they could do at Anfield,” mused the 27-year old, reflecting on the first meeting between these two sides. “We want to get the three points and we’ll go there with huge belief after the Chelsea game, knowing that it is not going to be easy for us.”
