Lincoln City, an outfit of England’s third tier of league football, play hosts to Premier League champions Liverpool FC on Thursday in the third round of the EFL Cup.
Jurgen Klopp’s men picked up their pace in a 2-0 victory away at Chelsea last weekend through a brace from star-forward Sadio Mane and a fantastic showing at centre-back by Fabinho. The overall display against Frank Lampard’s Chelsea side was a welcome change in form for the Reds who had been largely inconsistent on their travels from home since the backend of last season.
A third-round fixture of the EFL Cup is not bound to worry Jurgen Klopp or the Jordan Henderson-led squad of world champions, but Liverpool FC will be wary of complacency getting the better of them on their visit to LNER Stadium.
If Lincoln City does manage to stage a highly unexpected win over the Anfield giants, Klopp’s side will not hear the end of it from their own set of fans, let alone the rest of the country.
Moreover, with a domestic cup being the only piece of silverware missing from the Liverpool FC boss’s kitty since his appointment at Anfield, the Reds’ fanbase will be hoping to see Henderson perform his iconic trophy ‘shuffle’ with the EFL Cup in his grasp.
But that dream being a far distance away from reality, Liverpool FC have to overcome Michael Appleton’s Lincoln side on their path to reach the fourth round of the cup competition.
WHEN & WHERE?
Date: Thursday 24 September
Time: 6:45 PM GMT
Venue: LNER Stadium
TEAM NEWS
Jurgen Klopp is believed to be unable to call upon his centre-back duo of Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, with the last-mentioned of the two being confirmed to having been sidelined for a lengthy period due to his most recent injury niggle.
However, Gomez did not play against Chelsea on Sunday as a mere precaution and the English international should be in contention to play the Lincoln fixture.
Jordan Henderson was taken off at the end of the first half against the Blues due to a slight knock but Klopp had voiced his hope of the Reds’ skipper being fit for the next game for Liverpool FC.
New Anfield arrivals Kostas Tsimikas and Diogo Jota, the latter of whom signed a five-year deal with Liverpool FC only last week, should be striving to get their first appearance in the Reds’ shirt against Thursday’s opponents.
