For a club which embraces trips to far, foreign lands, it is appropriate the first cup-tie of the season will be staged in a venue that conjures images of Italy.
Burton’s Pirelli Stadium, however, is as continental as it will get for Liverpool in this campaign and it is here their current standing in the game will be put into sharp focus. With so many blank midweeks on the horizon, the EFL Cup must become their new Europe.
Jurgen Klopp said before the season that ‘no possible good’ could come from not having a European campaign to focus on but this prize presents the first chance to ensure their absence from the scene they love so much lasts no longer than 12 months.