LASK vs Liverpool: Preview, team news, h2h – Reds target second win against Moses Usor & co

It’s Austrian giants LASK vs Liverpool on matchday two of the UEFA Champions League, with the hosts targeting a historic win at the Raiffeisen-Arena on Wednesday.

Super Eagles striker Moses Usor has been ruled out of LASK’s UEFA Champions League league phase meeting with Liverpool.

Usor, who has contributed two goals and three assists for LASK this season, picked up a muscle injury that head coach Dietmar Kühbauer has confirmed will keep him out of the fixture. This is despite the Nigerian withdrawing from the October Super Eagles squad after LASK rejected a late travel request for him to join up with the national team.

Liverpool, under new head coach Andoni Iraola, travel to Austria looking to build on an opening 2-1 win over Atlético Madrid, while LASK, enjoying a third-place start to their Austrian Bundesliga campaign, are already feeling the weight of absentees after a one-nil opening defeat at AEK Athens. Kickoff is set for 18:45 local time in Linz, which is 17:45 in Nigeria.

LASK vs Liverpool: Match radar

⚽ LASK vs Liverpool
Competition	UEFA Champions League, League Phase Matchday 2
Kickoff	Wednesday, October 14, 2026 — 18:45 (Linz)
Venue	Raiffeisen-Arena, Linz
Where to Watch	Check local Champions League broadcast listings
🇳🇬 Kickoff falls at 17:45 Nigerian time, with Super Eagles striker Moses Usor sidelined for the hosts.

LASK vs Liverpool: Form and context

LASK currently sit third in the Austrian Bundesliga with sixteen points from eight matches, built on five wins, one draw and two defeats domestically, but their continental form reads very differently.

In the Champions League, Kühbauer’s side slipped to a one-nil defeat away at AEK Athens on matchday one, leaving them 28th of 36 teams in the league phase table without a point.

Their recent run across all competitions has been mixed, a 6-1 rout of lower-league side Deutschlandsberger SC in the cup sitting alongside back-to-back defeats to Sturm Graz and Rapid Wien either side of a 3-3 draw at Hartberg.

Liverpool have made a flying start in Europe even as domestic results stutter under Iraola. The 2-1 home win over Atlético Madrid lifted them to 13th in the league phase standings with three points from their opener.

But in the Premier League they sit 9th with nine points from six matches, a run interrupted by a three-nil home defeat to Manchester City on October 11.

LASK vs Liverpool: Head-to-head

LASK have never beaten Liverpool in two previous meetings, both coming in the 2023/24 Europa League group stage.

Liverpool won 3-1 in Linz, with Florian Flecker scoring LASK’s consolation, before thrashing the Austrians four-nil at Anfield, Cody Gakpo scoring twice. The aggregate score across both games reads 7-1 in Liverpool’s favour, though those results are now two years old and carry only limited bearing on a reshaped Champions League meeting between two very different squads.

Moses Usor injury update: LASK vs Liverpool team news

Usor’s absence is the headline concern for LASK, but Kühbauer’s injury list runs deeper.

Left wing-back George Bello joins him on the sidelines with a muscle injury, while Ramiz Harakaté remains out long-term with a cruciate ligament tear.

Cheikne Kébé and Art Smakaj are unavailable through separate UEFA registration eligibility issues rather than injury, and captain Sascha Horvath is a doubt after a thigh problem picked up on Austria duty, with Kasper Jørgensen also managing a recent knock.

Liverpool have their own absentees. Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni and Hugo Ekitiké remain out with long-term injuries, while Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo, who have combined for five goals and three assists this season, are both doubts after picking up knocks on international duty.

Ryan Gravenberch, sent off against Manchester City, is available for this fixture, as his one-match ban applies only to the Premier League and does not carry into the Champions League.

LASK	Liverpool
Moses Usor — out (muscle) George Bello — out (muscle) Ramiz Harakaté — out (ACL) Cheikne Kébé — out (eligibility) Art Smakaj — out (eligibility) Sascha Horvath — doubt (thigh) Kasper Jørgensen — doubt	Conor Bradley — out (knee) Giovanni Leoni — out (ACL) Hugo Ekitiké — out (Achilles) Alexander Isak — doubt (thigh) Cody Gakpo — doubt (ankle) Dominik Szoboszlai — doubt Federico Chiesa — doubt (back)

LASK vs Liverpool: Star player comparison

With Moses Usor sidelined, Christoph Lang carries LASK’s attacking threat into a contest with Liverpool’s Alexander Isak, even as the Swedish forward’s own fitness remains in question for Wednesday.

Christoph Lang Forward · LASK	Stat	Alexander Isak Forward · Liverpool
5	Goals	4
0	Assists	0
8	Appearances	5
0.82	Goals per 90	0.87

The managers

Dietmar Kühbauer is in his second spell in charge of LASK, having first managed the club in 2022 before returning for the 2025/26 season, and he now has them competing in the Champions League league phase for the first time in the club’s history.

Andoni Iraola, appointed Liverpool head coach in June, has overseen a 33 per cent win rate across his first six matches in charge, a mixed start that the Atlético Madrid win in Europe has at least steadied heading into this trip to Austria.

LASK vs Liverpool tactical preview

Both sides favour patient build-up play rather than end-to-end football, LASK holding 57.7 per cent possession this season against Liverpool’s 55 per cent, which points to a congested midfield battle rather than an open game.

LASK have been especially productive from set pieces, scoring six goals from dead-ball situations this season, and with Bello’s delivery from the left wing-back slot unavailable, more of that responsibility falls on Jørgensen and Dibango from open play and from the corners LASK have won in bulk.

Liverpool’s defence has conceded at a rate of 1.2 goals per match this season, with only three clean sheets to show for it, a number LASK’s set-piece threat could test if their replacement front three of Daněk, Lang and Adeniran can win enough territory.

Going forward, Gravenberch’s return to the base of midfield alongside Mac Allister gives Liverpool control in the centre, freeing Wirtz to operate between the lines behind Koumas, who deputised impressively when Isak and Gakpo both missed the Manchester City defeat.

LASK vs Liverpool: The Naija slip

LASK vs Liverpool: Score prediction

🔮 LASK 1 – 3 Liverpool

Liverpool’s European pedigree and LASK’s absentee list point to a comfortable away win, though LASK’s set-piece threat should produce a consolation. Likely scorers: Lang for LASK; Koumas and Wirtz for Liverpool.