Andrew Powell/Getty ImagesBrendan Rodgers has his Liverpool side ready to take on Young Boys in the Europa League on Thursday.

Let it never be said the fixture list is cruel to Brendan Rodgers -- not in Europe, at least. By the time Liverpool's pre-match warm-up begins on Thursday, Anzhi Makhachkala's result against Udinese in Moscow will have filtered through; by the time Liverpool and Young Boys Bern kick-off at Anfield, the minimal requirement for qualification will truly be known. The permutations are simple: anything but a win for Udinese means destiny rests on Rodgers' hands. Given his travails over transfers, squad size and injuries, control would be a feeling to savour.

A win for Liverpool, coupled with a failure to do so from Udinese, will see their passports a necessity after Christmas. Not that a win is not the minimum requirement for Liverpool anyway -- the manager, and supporters, would demand little else. But a guarantee of qualification with a match still to play gives extra incentive; hibernating their participation in Europe mid-November would give them 14 Premier League games without the worry of overexertion and stringent squad management.

Rodgers will wonder how he is on the brink of such luxury. He has experimented with 30 players in the Europa League so far this season, from Charlie Adam to Adam Morgan; some wilted in the temperate Edinburgh summer, others hardened in the sub-zero Moscow night.

Regardless of player performance, the group stage trio of Udinese, Anzhi and Young Boys ensured diversity if nothing else. How different the evenings in Bern and Moscow proved, the former an eight-goal laugh-a-thon, the latter an attritional one-goal defeat. The two Anfield fixtures dichotomised too; Udinese left clinging to their three points, Anzhi departed clinging to the missed opportunity of troubling a below-par Liverpool side more than they did.

But once the story is told, the punch line remains: four games, six points. One more win could be enough. If this scenario was offered at the start of the campaign, hands would have been gnawed at, let alone nibbled. European competition, and all that it entails, is a new experience for Rodgers; never before has he needed to juggle such high-pressure games in succession. After Anzhi at Anfield, came Everton at Goodison. After the long haul to Moscow, came the European champions at Stamford Bridge. The only defeat in those four came in Moscow, which was far from terminal. He is doing well, so too is his sparsely-populated squad.

Two losses from four in the group stage is not the ideal return -- but it was never the ideal group. Young Boys did them a favour with their win in Udine, though Liverpool cannot expect more favours when the Swiss side visit Anfield on Thursday. As helpful as their win in Italy was, it also kept Young Boys firmly in the pack for qualification and served a timely reminder that there's more to them than clichéd puns about children.

With Swansea on Sunday and a chance for Rodgers to avenge October's Carling Cup exit, it's time to shuffle the pack once more. It is something the Northern Irishman has done quite well so far this season; it is something he won't have to contemplate again for months if results go his way on Thursday. Though his squad is thinner than spaghetti tied to a torture rack, there is some resilience within.

Rodgers was quick to identify who he deemed unworthy of a place in his squad, his first impressions appearing less folly by the day as Andy Carroll and Adam toil at other clubs. What remains is not perfect, but it will do -- for now.

When Rodgers took the Liverpool job, he inherited the good and bad of the previous regime -- mainly bad in the eyes of Rodgers, if his use of Kenny Dalglish's signings is an indication. Of Dalglish's nine acquisitions, three no longer play at Liverpool, with Stewart Downing less likely to survive January than an ill-fitting Christmas jumper. Only Suarez, thus far, has made an impact at the club, though it is an impact most tangible.

But a number of Dalglish's much-maligned signings have helped the club into this position of near-qualification, proving themselves as capable squad players in recent weeks. Jordan Henderson has provided balance in midfield, while Jose Enrique is adding versatility and the ability to play in midfield. Even Downing's goal against Anzhi could yet prove the seismic shift in the standings, his strike at Anfield swinging not only the ball, but the fate of the four sides. Indeed, it was Henderson, Enrique and Suarez -- three of Dalglish's signings -- who provided the platform for Liverpool's comfortable 3-0 victory over Wigan Athletic on Saturday.

Rodgers has managed his squad well so far this season -- slight qualms about the scarcity of Henderson aside, though the 22-year-old can be an acquired taste. Nevertheless, their 23rd game of the season approaches against a tricky Young Boys side; with injuries to a key player in each position -- Martin Kelly, Lucas Leiva and Fabio Borini. The fact that this could be the game to seal qualification to the final 32 of the Europa League is some achievement.

Before Liverpool can contemplate Europe in February, Anzhi must deny Udinese. It would be rash to expect any particular result, and it could well transpire that a victory will not be enough on Thursday. But first, to get the victory itself. It would just be nice for Rodgers to enter the Young Boys game with an element of control, and board a plane to Italy a fortnight later with an element of nonchalance, the passport he clutches not consigned to the bottom drawer for another year.

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