Liverpool know the two sides they could face in the League Cup, after the draw for the second and third rounds were made on Sunday.
The Reds last won the trophy in 2012 under Kenny Dalglish, but since then a pair of semi-finals and a final defeat in 2016 has been the best we’ve managed.
Last year, Jurgen Klopp‘s side reached the quarter-finals and would have been confident about achieving more silverware in the competition – but a fixture backlog meant a vastly inexperienced team took to the pitch against Aston Villa and were beaten 5-0, with the senior side in Qatar for the Club World Cup.
For 2020/21, our journey will begin against either or Bradford City or Lincoln City, away from home.
Those two sides meet in the second round and the winners will host the Reds a week later.
Second-round ties will be played on the week commencing September 14, with third-round matches the following week.
League Two side Bradford are at home for the second round tie, with opponents Lincoln playing in League One.
The Reds can be expected to field a reasonably strong team for the tie; while the Premier League starters might be changed, it will still be a senior lineup who takes to the field as Klopp takes the opportunity to get regular minutes on the board early on for his whole squad.
There’s also the possibility for a couple of younger players to feature before heading out on loan, with the transfer window not closing until October this year.
Depending on how quickly he integrates into the squad in training and how well he recovers from illness, the match could feasibly be the Liverpool debut for new signing Kostas Tsimikas.
This cup fixture will fall between league games away to Chelsea and home to Arsenal, further highlighting the probable need to rotate.
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