Preview: Besiktas vs. Liverpool

Liverpool will be looking to book their place in the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday when they travel to Besiktas for the second leg of their last-32 encounter.

The Reds head to Turkey with a 1-0 lead following their narrow victory at Anfield last week.

Mario Balotelli scored from the penalty spot with just five minutes left as Brendan Rodgers's side edged out the Turks on Merseyside.

Liverpool are currently enjoying an impressive run of form, with just one defeat coming in their last 18 games in all competitions. They have also won their previous four matches in a row.

Their most recent victory came on Sunday when they saw off top-four rivals Southampton 2-0 at St Mary's Stadium in the Premier League.

In contrast, Besiktas are struggling for consistency. The hosts have lost three of their last four games, though they remain hot on the heels of Galatasaray in the Super Lig title race.

Slaven Bilic's team can also take encouragement from the fact that they are unbeaten in three home matches against English clubs.

Lazar Markovic is suspended for the visitors, who also have Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho missing. Henderson is thought to be nursing an ankle complaint, while Coutinho has been rested. Mamadou Sakho is also expected to be absent as he recovers from a hip problem.

Ersan Gulum and Ramon Motta are both banned for the home side, with Cenk Tosun, Ismail Koybasi and Tolga Zengin also unavailable due to injury.

Besiktas:

Form in Europa League: DWWDWL Form in all competitions: DWLWLL

Possible starting lineup: Cenk; Serdar, Franco, Ersan, Kurtulus; Olcay, Veli, Hutchinson, Gokhan; Sosa, Ba

Liverpool:

Form in Europa League: W Form in all competitions: WDWWWW

Possible starting lineup: Mignolet; Can, Skrtel, Lovren, Moreno; Ibe, Lallana, Allen, Sterling; Balotelli, Sturridge

Sports Mole says: 1-2