Liverpool enjoyed a brilliant start to their Premier League campaign with a win against Arsenal, but lost to Burnley in their second match of the competition. It is such inconsistency, which has plagued Liverpool for some time now. However, Jurgen Klopp's men will only look for one result — win — when they face Burton Albion at Pirelli Stadium in the second round of the EFL Cup, earlier known as League Cup, on Tuesday.
With Liverpool out of the European competition, bench players do not have many chances to justify their selection in the starting eleven. But it is in such competitions that players like Danny Ings, Kevin Stewart, Lazar Markovic try to prove their worth, and push Klopp to include them in the starting eleven. Liverpool are not expected to make drastic changes for this EFL Cup.
There might be talks about Liverpool taking the EFL Cup lightly, but the German manager made it clear that they want to perform well in the competition.
"We cannot replace European football, we want to be as successful as possible. And when we say we want to fight for everything then of course the League Cup is involved. Last year, we were in the final, it was nice. The result was not too nice but for all Liverpool supporters it was a nice game until the final whistle after the penalty shootout," Klopp was quoted as saying on LFC's official website.
"We are professionals so it's the next opportunity for us to get a result, even when it's not for the table. It's not about not being in Europe that the cup is important — it's important."
With all due respect to Burton, Liverpool should not have much problem in defeating Nigel Clough's side, who will treat this match as a historic one. For clubs like Burton, they do not get to play against such top performers, and their supporters are aware of it. The stadium is expected to be packed, with tickets reportedly already having been sold out.
But Burton will give all that they have got, and try to find a positive result on Wednesday. The hosts are known to play an attacking style of football, and it remains to be seen if their forwards can make any big impact during the match. This is the first competitive meeting between the two sides, which makes the contest even more interesting.
"This is a brilliant week for the club, not a crucial week. Usually big games like this come later in the season and there's a lot riding on them. That's not the case," BBC quoted Clough as saying.
"It's 10 years since we played Manchester United in the FA Cup so these games don't come around very often for us. Ask our supporters. Never in their wildest dreams did they believe they'd be playing teams like this, never mind who we now play in the league week in, week out."
Watch Burton Albion vs Liverpool live
Burton Albion vs Liverpool EFL Cup is scheduled for 7:45 p.m BST (12:15 IST, 2:45 ET) start. TV and Live streaming options can be found below.
India: TV: Ten 1.
UK: TV: Sky Sports 1. Live Streaming: Sky Go
US: TV: BeIN Sports. Live streaming: Bein Sports Connect
Australia: TV: BeIN Sports. Live streaming: Bein Sports Connect
