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Preview: Liverpool v Dortmund

Cape Town - Liverpool will be aiming to produce another strong performance when they welcome Borussia Dortmund to Anfield for the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie on Thursday.

The Merseysiders secured a 1-1 draw with the Bundesliga high-flyers in what was manager Jurgen Klopp's first return to Signal Iduna Park, with the 48-year-old having parted ways with the German outfit in 2015.

Klopp opted to start Belgian Divock Origi in the first-leg tie, and his decision paid dividends as the youngster opened the scoring for the Reds, before Mats Hummels popped up after the half-time break head home the equaliser for Dortmund.

Liverpool followed up on their Europa League stalemate with a convincing 4-1 victory over Stoke City in the Premier League at the weekend, while Thomas Tuchel's played to a 2-2 draw with Schalke 04.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Klopp said: "I don't think we went to the limit last week and don't think Dortmund did either. It's wrong to look at negatives.

"I think Dortmund will perform to the best of their ability and take each game as it comes. Some people will have thought Dortmund would have had an easier time of it.

"But against them you cannot just defend. I think it's really important to forget about last week's game. We have to show a new attitude. We won't be waving the white flag. 

"They know they can play better but so do we. We have to do better in tomorrow's game."

Dortmund defender Matthias Ginter, meanwhile, is hopeful his side will be able to record a favourable result away from home.

"Liverpool are a very strong team, which was clear from the first-leg," he said. "It could go either way once more. Of course we hope that it goes our way."

On the team news front, Liverpool will have to make do without the services of skipper Jordan Henderson, while long-term absentees Danny Ings and Joe Gomez remain on the treatment table. Striker Christian Benteke (knee) is expected to miss out.

For Dortmund, Neven Subotic (thrombosis) is the only notable absentee, while the players that were rested for the clash with Schalke are all expected to return to the starting line-up on Thursday.

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