Liverpool to send out reserve side in Europa League

Liverpool will field a near second-string side for their Europa League Group A opener with Swiss side Young Boys in Bern Thursday, with one eye on the clash with Manchester United this weekend. Captain Steven Gerrard, goalkeeper Jose Reina, striker Luis Suarez, first-choice defenders Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger and Welsh international midfield playmaker Joe Allen have all remained on Merseyside. Liverpool’s lineup could be full of unfamiliar names, although defensive stalwart Jamie Carragher will provide experience. The Reds could hand a debut to Samed Yesil, an 18-year-old German-born striker signed from Bayer Leverkusen. Meanwhile, Newcastle United have left Senegalese strikers Papiss Cisse and the unsettled Demba Ba behind as they head for Madeira and their Europa League Group D encounter with Maritimo Funchal. Cisse was withdrawn from the squad because of illness, with his place taken by 17-year-old Adam Campbell. There was also no sign of Ba 24 hours after his agent criticized manager Alan Pardew’s decision to only name him among the substitutes for Monday’s 2-2 draw at Everton. Newcastle will also be without midfielders Yohan Cabaye and Jonas Gutierrez, while goalkeeper Tim Krul, defenders Danny Simpson, Fabricio Coloccini and Ryan Taylor and midfielder Cheick Tiote are all out injured. Lazio coach Vladimir Petkovic says his in-form team can still improve as it prepares for Thursday’s Europa League tie with Tottenham Hotspur. The Rome club have got off to a perfect start this season, winning all five of their games in Serie A and the Europa League qualifiers. They face perhaps their toughest test yet against a Tottenham side returning to Europe’s second competition after a season in the Champions League. “We’ve improved a lot,” Petkovic said. “But there are still margins for progress and that pleases me. “I don’t doubt that the lads will keep their feet on the ground. We’ll let the fans have the pleasure of praising the team, but we have to think about Thursday’s game. “We’ve got our confidence back and every positive result boosts that – we want to continue like this.” Tottenham are finding their feet under new coach Andre Villas-Boas, picking up their first win of the season Sunday against Reading following two draws and a defeat. “They’re a very solid squad, very strong and they have got their confidence back in time for the Europa League,” Petkovic said. “After the victory against Reading, they have started to believe in Villas-Boas. “They’ll come at us full blast and we have to be ready. I’m not scared – we have to continue to grow and go there to win the game. However, we have to be aware that we will suffer at times and we have to be able to withstand that.” After finally getting that first win of the season, Spurs will be full of confidence and eager to push on. “It was massively important to get that win,” midfielder Gareth Bale said. “It was one of those games that kick-starts our season. We’re not too far behind everybody and we played some great stuff. We’ll be going out there to win every game and hopefully we can do that. “He [Villas-Boas] is here to build a team and it’s a new way of playing for us. Everybody has to be patient. Things will come and it’ll start to click like it did against Reading and hopefully we can push on from there.” From DailyStar