Jurgen Klopp will meet the Anfield crowd for the first time when his Liverpool team host Rubin Kazan in Thursday's Europa League Group B tie.
The German coach has taken charge of just one match so far since becoming manager of the Merseyside club, but he will be tasked with turning around Liverpool's lacklustre start to their European campaign.
Liverpool
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It has been all change for Liverpool over the last few weeks, with Klopp coming in and Brendan Rodgers being shown the exit door.
The former Borussia Dortmund boss, who won two Bundesliga titles with the German club, managed to get his first taste of the Premier League in last Saturday's early afternoon match against Tottenham Hotspur.
Klopp's team may have failed to get on the scoresheet at White Hart Lane, but his message was clearly shown as the team took on their coach's trademark high-intensity approach in the early stages of the goalless draw.
The performance has brought optimism around Anfield as they try to handle an injury crisis that so far has Danny Ings and Joe Gomez facing lengthy periods of time on the treatment table.
With Daniel Sturridge's injury woes also seemingly not behind him, the onus falls on Divock Origi to carry out Klopp's attacking plans, which will be put to the test again when Liverpool play Rubin Kazan on Thursday.
The Reds' campaign in Europe has so far been rather stuttered following score draws against Bordeaux and Sion, with just two goals being scored, both from Adam Lallana.
With a race for a Champions League spot tighter than ever in the Premier League, winning the Europa League could be the perfect route for Liverpool to get back into the elite tournament.
The Merseyside outfit have not had much trouble reaching the knockout rounds of this competition in previous campaigns, having advanced into that stage in 2010-11 and 2012-13, and they are currently second in Group B, two points adrift of Sion.
Recent form: DD
Recent form (all competitions): DWWDDD
Rubin Kazan
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It has been a disappointing start to the Europa League from Rubin Kazan's point of view as they sit at the bottom of Group B with just a single point.
The Russian outfit opened their tournament with a 2-1 defeat to Sion, and then followed that up with a goalless draw against Bordeaux on home turf.
The club's situation is similar to Liverpool's in the sense that they too have a new coach at the helm following the dismissal of Rinat Bilyaletdinov in September.
Valeri Chaly, who played in the lower leagues in the Soviet Union, is the new man in charge, but only on a temporary basis after ending a short spell with FC Chayka Sevastopol's reserves to take on the role.
The team have managed just one goal in two Europa League games, and they are not faring much better in domestic terms as they have lost five of their nine matches in the Russian Premier League.
Rubin are currently 12th in the league standings, three points above bottom-placed Mordovya Saransk, who lie in 16th place.
Recent form: LD
Recent form (all competitions): LDLDLW
Team News
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As mentioned, Liverpool have a number of players out injured, giving Klopp a limited squad to choose from, particularly from an attacking point of view.
At the moment, Origi is the Reds' main striker as Ings and Christian Benteke are carrying injuries, while Sturridge is also suffering from a strain, but could feature on the bench if deemed fit enough for Thursday.
Klopp is still learning about his new players, so he may not make too many changes from the side that took on Spurs, but Jordon Ibe and Joe Allen could come in to replace Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Leiva.
Adam Lallana and James Milner could keep their places, while a back four of Nathaniel Clyne, Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho and Alberto Moreno has a chance of competing at Anfield under the lights.
For the visitors, Oleg Kuzmin scored twice against FC Ufa at the weekend and is likely to keep his place at full-back, while Igor Portnyagin could be given the nod to lead the line.
Sergei Kislyak also managed to get on the scoresheet at the weekend, so he is expected to line up in midfield alongside Magomed Ozdoev.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Mignolet; Clyne, Skrtel, Sakho, Moreno; Can, Allen, Milner; Ibe, Lallana, Origi
Rubin Kazan possible starting lineup:
Ryzhikov; Kuzmin, Kverkvelia, Kambolov, Nabiullin; Ozdoev, Kislyak; Karadeniz, Eduardo, Kanunnikov; Portnyagin
Head To Head
There is virtually nothing to go by with regards to previous meetings because Thursday will be the first time that the two sides have come together in a UEFA competition.
What can be drawn on is the history between English and Russian teams as Liverpool have won six, drawn one and lost four UEFA fixtures against teams from the continent.
With regards to Rubin, they have had a decent time against English opposition having won three, drawn one and lost two, but they could not win any of those games on UK shores.
We say: Liverpool 1-0 Rubin Kazan
Thursday night could result in Klopp's first win as a Liverpool manager, but it is unlikely to be a prolific one given that the team are struggling with injuries in their attacking department. At just 20 years old, it is a lot of pressure for Origi to be the sole contributor, and it will take time for the Belgian to get used to the new system. Rubin are yet to pick up a win in the Europa League and their previous record playing against English teams in the UK shows that they lack a certain threat. Should Liverpool make the most of their predicted energetic start, they could get an early goal at Anfield.
Danielle Joynson
