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Sion v Liverpool background

Sion need just a point to be certain of joining Liverpool in the UEFA Europa League round of 32, with Jürgen Klopp's side out to claim top spot in Group B.

Sion's Jagne Pa Modou challenges Liverpool's Divock Origi
Sion's Jagne Pa Modou challenges Liverpool's Divock Origi ©AFP/Getty Images

FC Sion can ill afford a second successive Group B defeat as they look to cling on against Liverpool FC and claim a place in the UEFA Europa League round of 32.

• Liverpool are through and will top the group with a draw.

• Sion trail Rubin on head-to-head record so still need a point if the Russian club win.

Previous meetings
Sion earned a 1-1 draw at Liverpool on matchday two, in what was Brendan Rodgers' final  European game in charge of the Reds.

• Roy Evans' Liverpool eliminated Alberto Bigon's Sion in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round, winning 2-1 in Switzerland and 6-3 at Anfield.

• Sion were the first visiting team to score three times in a European fixture at Anfield; only FC Barcelona (1-3, 2001), Chelsea FC (1-3, 2009), Udinese Calcio (2-3, 2012) and Real Madrid CF (0-3, 2014) have done so since.

• Those meetings with Liverpool are Sion's only previous matches against English opponents.

• Liverpool's 13 outings against Swiss sides have ended W6 D5 L2 (W3 D1 L2 in Switzerland).

Form guide
• Sion have scored five and conceded five in Group B – averaging one goal a game on both counts.

• Liverpool have drawn eight of their 17 UEFA Europa League group stage fixtures to date (W7 D8 L2).

• Sion are featuring in the group stage of a major UEFA competition for the first time.

• Liverpool advanced to the knockout phase in both previous UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns – 2010/11 and 2012/13 – so have made it three out of three this term.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Liverpool to Sion is just shy of 1,100km.

• Sion left-back Reto Ziegler spent one full season in England with Tottenham Hotspur FC and also played on loan at Wigan Athletic FC. He figured in three matches against Liverpool: two draws with Tottenham and a 1-0 loss with Wigan. He scored in a penalty shoot-out for the north Londoners against the Reds and also registered his only league goal for Spurs versus Liverpool's neighbours Everton FC.

• Sion's Montenegrin international defender Elsad Zverotić was also in England with Fulham FC up until last summer.

• Sion winger Geoffrey Mujangi Bia played on loan with English sides Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and Watford FC earlier in his career.

The coaches
• A UEFA Cup finalist with FC Girondins de Bordeaux in 1996, French striker Didier Tholot ended his playing career as player-coach at Sion and took charge of the club for a third time in 2014. He led Sion to Swiss Cup success in 2009 during his second stint and lifted that trophy again last term.

• Tholot, now 51, briefly played lower-league football in England with Walsall FC in 1998.

• Liverpool manager since 2012, Brendan Rodgers was sacked on 4 October after an uninspiring run of results.

• Rodgers' replacement is former Borussia Dortmund boss Jürgen Klopp. The 48-year-old enjoyed an immensely successful spell at the Westfalenstadion, winning the Bundesliga in 2010/11, completing the double the next season and narrowly missing out against FC Bayern München in the 2013 UEFA Champions League final.

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