Liverpool will play their sixth and final Europa League group stage game at Anderlecht’s stadium when they travel to Belgium in December.
The Reds were drawn in Group E alongside LASK, Toulouse and Union SG having missed out on Champions League qualification for the first time since 2016.
The final away trip of the group stage will see Jurgen Klopp take his side to Belgium to face Union SG on December 14, but the clash will not take place in the hosts’ usual home stadium
The Belgian side, who finished third in the Belgian Pro League last season, typically play all of their home fixtures at Stade Joseph Marien, which holds around 9,000 supporters, but this does not meet UEFA requirements.
Instead, Liverpool will visit Lotto Park – home of Anderlecht – which has a capacity of 21,000 and is situated less than three miles from Stade Joseph Marien.
Union SG have used Lotto Park for their home fixtures in recent European campaigns having formed agreements with Anderlecht in the past.
The club have confirmed on their official website that they will also welcome LASK and Toulouse to the stadium in the 2023/24 group stage.
Liverpool’s last visit to Lotto Park came in October 2005 as they looked to defend the Champions League trophy they lifted in Istanbul five months earlier.
The match will be a family affair for Alexis Mac Allister, who is set to come up against his brother – Kevin – in the two fixtures between the sides.
Kevin Mac Allister joined the club last summer from Argentinos Juniors, where both his brother Alexis and his father Carlos have played in the past.
— Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (@UnionStGilloise) September 1, 2023
The Union SG squad were joyous upon discovering that they had been drawn in the same group as the Reds in what will be their second successive Europa League appearance.
They reached the quarter-final of last year’s competition, where they were knocked out by Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen 5-2 on aggregate.
Liverpool will be hoping to have already qualified for the knockout stages of the competition when they visit Union SG in December, and they will be able to bypass February’s additional play-off round should they top the group.
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