I think that the draw yesterday would have taken the wind out of our sails for a CL place. If we target a win at Sunderland they will be 5 points adrift in 7th and we should have enough in the tank to see off other challengers for 6th. I'm not saying it will be easy, but I see us finishing closer to 5th than 7th if Kenny keeps morale high and the squad keeps putting the effort in.
So I would like to see some solid rather than experimental team selections in the Europa Cup in order to make a strong effort at winning the thing (we should be targeting the semi-final at least). However I don't see us fielding a particularly strong side this week, given our serious issues with fatigue. We will probably travel there and aim to either draw or lose by only 1 goal, scoring at least once in the process. That way we can come back to Anfield in a week where we can field a full-strength side if need be.
For this week, I would have Lucas, Gerrard (if fit), and Meireles on the bench. I would play 3-6-1, and plan to frustrate the hell out of Sparta.
Worst case (2 DM, as we played vs Stoke):
-----------Reina---------------
----Carra--Soto--Skrtel--------
-Kelly---------------Aurelio-
-----Maxi--Poulsen-Spearing----
------------Suarez-------------
------------N'Gog--------------
Bench: Gerrard, Meireles, Lucas, Pacheco, Johnson, Suso, Gulasci
Best case (2 AMC + Agger, as per Chelsea, plan to take the fight to them and win the away leg, knowing we have no game on the weekend):
----------Reina----------------
----Carra---Skrtel---Agger-----
-Kelly---------------------Aurelio
-----Gerrard-Poulsen-Pacheco----
--------Kuyt----------Suarez----
Bench: Meireles, Johnson, Gulasci, Suso, Spearing, N'Gog, Wilson
This game might be a bridge too far for Kuyt though, so I'd start N'Gog over him if he's fatigued.
We may of course need to switch to 4-5-1 if they typically use 4-3-3, but we're a bit short on quality midfielders right now, particularly if Gerrard, Lucas, and Meireles are not 100%.