The Europa League knockout phase starts this week and with the January transfer window and a host of injuries affecting the remaining teams, Footy Matters has complied all the need to know Europa League news for the coming fixtures.

ARIS SALONIKA vs MANCHESTER CITY

New Manchester City signing Edin Džeko has been finding his feet in the premiership and is now ready to be let loose on the European stage after previous success in 2009 where he scored 4 goals for Wolfsburg. Although Emmanuel Adebayor has found his way out of Manchester to Real Madrid, his loss should not be felt this week with Carlos Tevez and an almost fit Mario Balotelli ready to lead the line.

Despite a strong Man City line up, Aris Salonika remain optimistic of a win, as they have not lost at home in a UEFA competition in 40 years. As well as this, the Greeks will also look to their three new signings to help them out; Nery Alberto Castillo who once featured on loan for City will line up alongside striker Daisuke Sakata and Danilo Pereira in Tuesday’s match.

SPARTA PRAGUE vs LIVERPOOL

No need to guess what big news will feature here for Liverpool. Fernando Torres’ move to Chelsea on deadline day was the biggest (and most expensive) transfer of the year. Despite the funds enabling the Reds to splash out on two new toys in Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll, Carroll is still injured and Suarez is rendered ineligible, so expect the scoring burden to lie with in-form midfielder, Raul Meireles. The X-factor however may come from new manager Kenny Dalglish who has guided Liverpool to sixth in the Premiership after a terrible start under Roy Hodgson.

Sparta Prague have also had to fill the void left by star striker Wilfried Bony who joined Dutch side Vitesse in January. Bony scored five goals in the group stage for Sparta and will be a huge loss. Tomáš Pekhart has since been brought in on loan for Sparta and the ex-Tottenham player will be looking to boost his value for a summer transfer.

RANGERS vs SPORTING LISBON

Rangers added some much needed European experience to their ranks with the loan of El-Hadji Diouf, after Kenny Miller left the Glasgow outfit for Bursaspor and Lee McCulloch was forced out for the season with a knee injury. They also added Northern Ireland striker David Healy to the squad and both will be available for the visit of Sporting Lisbon. Europa League success could be destined for Rangers if they beat Sporting, as the two previous meetings of the clubs resulted in Rangers advancing all the way through to the final.

SEVILLA vs PORTO

This match proves to be very exciting with both teams coming through tough groups to reach the knockout stage. Sevilla added two young prospects to their squad with Ivan Rakitić from Schalke and Chilean international Gary Medel. Even with these two additions, Sevilla may struggle against a Porto team who are unbeaten in the group stage and conceded a mere four goals whilst scoring 14 in 6 games themselves. Falcao scored 7 of those goals and will be the key to Porto adding another Europa League trophy to their previous title.

Round of 32 Fixtures (Wednesday Evening Unless Stated)

Aris Salonika v Man City (Tuesday)

FC Metalist Kharkiv v Bayer Leverkusen

Rubin Kazan v FC Twente

Anderlecht v Ajax

BATE Borisov v Paris SG

Benfica v VfB Stuttgart

Besiktas v Dynamo Kiev

Lech Poznan v Braga

Napoli v Villarreal

Basle v Spartak Moscow

Lille v PSV Eindhoven

PAOK Salonika v CSKA Moscow

Rangers v Sporting

Sevilla v FC Porto

Sparta Prague v Liverpool

Young Boys v Zenit St Petersburg