Basel v Liverpool background

FC Basel 1893 will look to bounce back from their 5-1 opening loss at Real Madrid CF when they host Liverpool FC on matchday two.

Previous meetings
• In the 2002/03 first group stage, Basel drew 1-1 at Anfield on matchday two. They then led Liverpool 3-0 at home on matchday six only for the Reds to earn a 3-3 draw with a second-half fightback. Steven Gerrard played in both games but was substituted at half-time in Basel.

• For Liverpool, the 3-3 result was not enough – Basel still pipped them to second place in the group by a point.

• The lineups for that St. Jakob-Park encounter on 12 November 2002 were:
Basel: Zuberbühler, Atouba, Zwyssig, M Yakin, Haas, Cantaluppi, Ergić, Esposito, H Yakin (Koumantarakis 90), Rossi (Tum 76), Giménez (Barberis 66).
Liverpool: Dudek, Carragher (Diouf 79), Traoré, Hyypiä, Riise, Šmicer, Gerrard (Diao 46), Hamann, Murphy, Owen, Heskey (Baroš 61).

Match background

Basel
• Including matches in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, Basel had a strong home record in Europe in 2013/14: W5 D2 L1.

• They beat Chelsea FC away (2-1) and at home (1-0) in last season's UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Their overall home record against English teams is W4 D3 L4.

Liverpool
• Won their opening Group B fixture 2-1 against PFC Ludogorets Razgrad, their first UEFA Champions League fixture since December 2009.

• They prevailed 5-3 at BSC Young Boys on their last trip to Switzerland in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Have never failed to score in Switzerland, totalling 14 goals over five games.

• The Reds' overall record in Switzerland reads W3 D1 L1. The solitary defeat was a 2-1 loss at Servette FC in the 1971/72 European Cup Winners' Cup first round; even then they won 3-2 on aggregate.

Coach and player links
• Brendan Rodgers replaced Paulo Sousa as manager of Swansea City AFC in July 2010 after the Portuguese left for Leicester City FC.

• The managers met twice in the English second division, both matches finishing goalless:
Swansea City (Sousa) 0-0 Reading FC (Rodgers), August 2009
Queens Park Rangers FC (Sousa) 0-0 Watford FC (Rodgers), December 2008

• Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling and substitute Rickie Lambert played at St. Jakob-Park in England's 2-0 UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying win over Switzerland on 8 September.

• Philipp Degen made seven league appearances for Liverpool (2008–10).

• Ivan Ivanov and Lazar Marković were FK Partizan team-mates (2011–13).

• Walter Samuel suffered elimination against Liverpool with AS Roma in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup fourth round (0-2 h, 1-0 a). He faced the Reds again in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League second group stage (0-0 h, 0-2 a).

• Samuel and Mario Balotelli won the UEFA Champions League with FC Internazionale Milano (2010).

• Balotelli was sent off playing for Italy against Marek Suchý's Czech Republic in a goalless 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Prague in June 2013. Three months later he hit the winner in the Turin return.

• Mamadou Sakho was in the France side that beat Switzerland 5-2 in the 2014 World Cup group stage. Fabian Schär was an unused Swiss substitute.

• Yoichiro Kakitani scored past Simon Mignolet in Japan's 3-2 friendly victory in Belgium in November 2013.

• Marcelo Díaz was in the Chile team that triumphed 2-0 against an England side including Glen Johnson, Adam Lallana and substitute Henderson in the same month.

• Sterling made his England debut against a Sweden side featuring substitute Behrang Safari in a 4-2 friendly success for the Swedes in November 2012.

• Ivanov was an unused substitute in PFC CSKA Sofia's 1-0 second-leg win at Liverpool in a 2005/06 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie (2-3 aggregate).

Match facts

Basel

• Marcelo Díaz is serving the second of a three-match ban following his dismissal in Basel's UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg against Valencia CF last season.

• Basel conceded a 92nd-minute equaliser from FC Thun's Berat Sadik on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw, the home side's first draw of the season.

• Ahmed Hamoudi scored his first goal for Basel as FC Vaduz were beaten 3-1 at St. Jakob-Park on 23 September.

• Having made his UEFA Champions League debut on matchday one, Breel Embolo, 17, registered a hat-trick five days later in Basel's 4-0 win at second division FC Winterthur in the Swiss Cup second round.

• Ivan Ivanov, out since January with a knee problem, is Basel's only long-term absentee. On 15 September he underwent another operation and is expected to be out for a further six months.

• Philipp Degen has not played since sustaining a foot injury on 29 August.

• Paulo Sousa, who replaced Murat Yakin as Basel coach in the summer, has won seven of his first ten Swiss Super League games.

Liverpool

• Emre Can and Lazar Marković are both available after serving bans on matchday one. Can was sent off as Bayer 04 Leverkusen lost 2-1 at Paris Saint-Germain in March's round of 16 second leg; Marković received a two-match ban for his red card in SL Benfica's UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg draw at Juventus.

• Everton FC defender Phil Jagielka scored a last-minute half-volley from 25 metres to cancel out Steven Gerrard's second-half free-kick and restrict Liverpool to a 1-1 draw on Saturday.

• Brendan Rodgers' side have kept only two clean sheets in their last 17 matches in all competitions – both against Tottenham Hotspur FC.

• Liverpool's 3-1 loss at West Ham United FC on 20 September was their third defeat in five Premier League games, the second time in three seasons they have started a campaign in such a manner.

• On 23 September, the Reds prevailed 14-13 at home to Middlesbrough FC in the longest penalty shoot-out in English League Cup history. First goals for the club from Jordan Rossiter, 17, and extra-time substitute Suso had earned a 2-2 draw after 120 minutes in the third-round tie.

• Liverpool-born Rossiter and Jordan Williams, 18, made their senior debuts against Middlesbrough.

• Raheem Sterling has three goals in six league appearances this season.