Van Dijk set for 200th captain appearance against LASK

Virgil van Dijk is in line to captain Liverpool for the 200th time when the Reds face LASK at Raiffeisen Arena on Wednesday night in the Champions League.

Should he lead the side out in Linz, Van Dijk will become only the eighth player in Liverpool's history to captain the club in 200 or more matches. He would join Steven Gerrard (470), Ron Yeats (417), Emlyn Hughes (335), Donald MacKinlay (293), Jordan Henderson (268), Alex Raisbeck (267) and Sami Hyypia (204).

Liverpool are aiming to win their opening two games of the league phase for the fifth time in their last seven European campaigns. The club have faced five Austrian sides in total — Austria Wien, Swarovski Tirol, AK Graz, Red Bull Salzburg and LASK — winning eight of those 10 encounters. Their only defeat against Austrian opposition came at Anfield against AK Graz in a 2004-05 Champions League qualifier.

None of Liverpool's last 44 European matches have ended in a draw since a 3-3 result against Benfica at Anfield in April 2022. They have also gone 82 Champions League group-stage and league-phase games without a goalless draw, dating back to an away fixture at PSV Eindhoven in 2006-07.

Andoni Iraola's side have won all three matches this season in which they scored the opening goal. Alexis Mac Allister has scored six Champions League goals for Liverpool, all of which have come at Anfield.

LASK, who began their 2026-27 European campaign with a 1-0 defeat away to AEK Athens, are playing their third season in the Champions League. They have not won any of their last eight UEFA competition group-stage or league-phase fixtures. The Austrian club's current season started on July 25 and this fixture is their 14th match, with a record of eight wins, one draw and four defeats.

When the clubs first met in Linz in September 2023 — when LASK became the 135th different club Liverpool had faced in European competition — Van Dijk, Wataru Endo, Kostas Tsimikas and Ryan Gravenberch started for Liverpool, while Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Joe Gomez came off the bench. Five LASK players from that night — Andres Andrade, George Bello, Florian Flecker, Sascha Horvath and Moses Usor — remain at the club.

Wednesday marks the first time Liverpool have played in Europe on October 14. They have not won in their last four matches played on that calendar date, drawing the most recent three.