Such is the oddness of this season's schedule, Liverpool have had to wait to kick off their defence of their League Cup, which begins in earnest against League One's Derby County on Wednesday night.
The Reds won the competition with an epic penalty shootout victory over Chelsea last February, and since then they've won the FA Cup, narrowly lost out on both the Premier League and Champions League, potentially broken the club's transfer record on a new forward, made a dreadful start to the new campaign and, on the face of it anyway, been put up for sale by Fenway Sports Group.
It's never quiet at Anfield then, and all of that means that a home game against a third tier side just over a week away from the World Cup can go under the radar a bit, but it is set to provide plenty of chances for those on the fringes of the side.
Speaking at Tuesday's press conference, assistant boss Pep Lijnders confirmed that he and Jurgen Klopp will rotate the side, with goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher coming in for his first appearance since last season's final, when he memorably scored his penalty and then watched as Kepa Arrizabalaga skied the 22nd kick of mammoth shootout over the bar.
Kelleher suffered a pre-season injury which kept him out of Reds squads at the start of the campaign, but Lijnders has confirmed he will play at Anfield against the Rams.
"Yeah, Caoimh deserves it. If you shoot the last penalty in [in the final], it would be a disgrace if we took him out now!" said the Dutchman.
"I think, honestly, one of my proudest moments in football was after the game when we won this cup. Caoimh, if you see a talent grow and you see talents turn into men and if you see men with personality and braveness and you go into a final and he takes the last penalty… and after the game we have this moment together, it means a lot."
The young Irishman is set to start behind a much-changed back four from the weekend's win at Tottenham, with starts for squad men Kostas Tsimikas and Joe Gomez, a game for Nat Phillips - who picked up some match fitness with 45 minutes for the under-21s at the weekend - and a first start for the Reds for young Scottish right-back Calvin Ramsay, a late substitute against Napoli last week.
In midfield, teenager Stefan Bajcetic should make his first Reds start after four substitute appearances.
The Spain youth international will play in holding midfield, with Curtis Jones an option to play alongside him and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Fabio Carvalho two other likely starters in what could be a fluid system. James Milner is still ruled out through concussion protocols and Naby Keita isn't fit yet.
Options are sparse for Klopp in attack, meaning that two of Darwin Nunez, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah could start, with both Firmino and Salah soon set for long rests during the World Cup.
Youngsters Bobby Clark, Ben Doak and Layton Stewart are all in line for involvement after failing to play 90 minutes against Fulham under-21s at the weekend.
Possible Liverpool XI: Kelleher, Ramsay, Phillips, Gomez, Tsimikas, Bajcetic, Jones, Carvalho, Nunez, Firmino, Oxlade-Chamberlain.
