It is widely recognized that finishing fourth is more important than winning the Europa League but Liverpool can't afford to treat the opportunity of lifting some silverware lightly.
So even though Thursday night's game with Steaua Bucharest does not capture the imagination, Liverpool have got to send out the right message and make a positive start to life in Group K.
I've no doubt Roy Hodgson will make some changes and he has enough options at the back to be able to give his first choice back four a bit of time off to recharge the batteries.
You wouldn't be surprised if Fabio Aurelio, Daniel Agger, Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Martin Kelly started and I'd expect David Ngog to take over from Fernando Torres up front.
Equally, the manager might be thinking of giving Brad Jones his first taste of playing for Liverpool and let Pepe Reina recover from his heroics at Birmingham City.
Reina was outstanding at St Andrews and those saves from Cameron Jerome and James McFadden will have done wonders for his confidence.
But, if we could get two or three goals up with 20 minutes left, what I would really like to see is a few of the young kids we are hearing so much about have a little run out.
Nothing would give fans more pleasure than to see a glimpse of Raheem Sterling, Fernando Suso or if Dani Pacheco was given 90 minutes.
The only way these kids will develop and learn is if they mix with better, seasoned players; Manchester United do it, as have others, so why don't we?
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