Liverpool will travel to Deepdale on Wednesday night in what will be a huge EFL Cup clash for Preston North End - and their on-loan defender Sepp Van den Berg has admitted to Sky Sports that his team will have to be 'very good' to see off the challenge of the Reds.
PNE are in the middle of some patchy league form right now and having lost to rivals Blackpool at the weekend, they find themselves still lingering near the bottom of the Championship table.
Morale will be low after such a defeat in the derby and they'll be keen to make up for it against the Premier League side on Wednesday night.
One key player for the Lilywhites so far this year has been Sepp van den Berg.
The defender - who typically plays as a centre-back - has been thrust into a right wing-back role with Preston but has thrived and become one of the first names on the team sheet for Frankie McAvoy. It comes after a previous successful loan spell at Deepdale last year and with the defender going from strength-to-strength with his on-loan side, he will be eager to show his parent club what he is capable of when they come to town.
However, the 19-year-old realises that it will be a tough ask to defeat Liverpool and has admitted that PNE will have to be 'very good' in the game if they wish to progress to the next round.
He said: "“I know we were already a little bit scared but them beating United 5-0 is impressive. Of course, I already knew they were capable of doing it so it’s nothing new really but we know they are good so we have to be very good as well.
"First half, everything [was impressive].
Quick play, [Mohamed] Salah being in top form as well. I know they are very good in every position so it’s going to be a very hard game."
Van den Berg and the rest of his teammates will have to be on top form then to see off the threat of Liverpool. If they could pull off a win though, it could go down as a famous victory for the Lilywhites.
The Verdict
Preston could probably not have found themselves coming up against a team like Liverpool at a worse time.
The Reds are on the back of an emphatic 5-0 win over arch-rivals Man United, while PNE are on the other end of the spectrum having been humbled by Blackpool at the weekend.
Frankie McAvoy will want a reaction from his side in the cup game and will hope to try and make up for such a bad performance in their last game with a shock victory over Jurgen Klopp's side. It won't be easy and North End will certainly have to be at their very best to do so though.