Neil Critchley will oversee Liverpool’s Carabao Cup quarter final with Aston Villa.
The European champions’ tie in the competition’s last eight on December 17 has been complicated by their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup a day later.
As a result, the Reds are set to field two different teams in separate continents over the space of 24 hours with Critchley set to take the helm at Villa Park.
Liverpool’s under-23 coach assumes first-team duties for the clash due to Jurgen Klopp and assistant Pep Lijnders heading to Qatar ahead of the Club World Cup.
It means that a largely youthful side will take on their Premier League rivals with the likes of Harvey Elliott, Sepp van den Berg and Curtis Jones all set to feature.
Critchley has shadowed Klopp and Liverpool’s first-team in recent weeks once the possibility of deputising in the dugout for the tie became a genuine one.
The 43-year-old arrived on Merseyside in September 2013, initially to take charge of the U18 side before making way for Steven Gerrard at that level.
He was named U23 coach in 2017 as Michael Beale’s permanent successor following the former Chelsea coach’s move to Sao Paulo earlier that year.
Anfield chiefs are still approaching the fixture in the same manner as any high-level game despite the absence of senior players in their Carabao Cup squad.
The young Reds will have an overnight stay at a team hotel on the eve of the trip to Villa Park as well as full use of travelling in the official team coach.