Liverpool will face FC Augsburg in the Europa League round of 32 during February, after the draw was completed around Monday lunchtime.

The first leg will be played at Augsburg's WWK Arena on Thursday February 18, with the follow up leg at Anfield a week later, with a place in the last 16 at stake.

Reds avoid big guns thanks to being seeded

Even though they avoided Jürgen Klopp's ex-club Borussia Dortmund, who were paired against FC Porto themselves, the German has been handed a return to his native country, thanks to being drawn against the Bundesliga side.

The Reds will be fairly pleased with their draw, with their having been potential to face some real big guns, despite having topped their group to become seeded for the draw. 

Drawing their first three games, all by the score of 1-1, Klopp's men went on to win the next two, before rounding off with a 0-0 draw against FC Sion last week, which ensured top spot.

Liverpool's team against Sion (photo: UEL)

Augsburg will be a threat

Augsburg didn't go through quite so comfortably, finishing four points off Athletico Bilbao in their group, and edging out Partizan Belgrade on their head-to-head record after both ended on nine points. 

Whilst they're not having the best of season's in the league, sitting 13th in the Bundesliga, Augsburg have shown that they've got the potential for surprise results against fairly big opponents. Beating Stuttgart 4-0 away from home earlier in the season, they recorded another solid win last weekend, beating Schalke 2-1.

Can Liverpool improve upon previous years?

It will be Liverpool's first two-legged affair against German opposition since the 2004/05 season, when they played Bayer Leverkusen on their way to winning the Champions League.

They'll be hoping to re-capture some of that European magic and perform better than they have done in recent years. During Brendan Rodgers' first year, they were knocked out at the round of 32 stage by Zenit, before not featuring at all in European competition during the following season.

Last year was another disappointment, as the Reds came 3rd in their Champions League group to qualify for the Europa League round of 32, only to again be dumped out in the first knockout stage, losing on penalties to Besiktas. It will be interesting to find out whether Klopp can fare better, and we'll find out in around two months.