AcademyFormat, fixtures and rules: Guide to the Papa Johns Trophy

As an invited Premier League club, the Reds will face three EFL teams – Salford City, Rochdale and Accrington Stanley – away from home in the competition’s group stage.

Read our guide to the tournament below…

Format

Split into northern and southern sections, the Papa Johns Trophy group stage involves 16 groups of four teams, who will play each other once only.

The invited club in each group will be away from home for all of their fixtures.

Games during this phase will be played over 90 minutes and if the score is level at full-time a penalty shootout will take place and the winners will secure an additional point.

The top two sides per pool will advance to the tournament’s knockout stages. Teams tied on points will be separated, in order, by: goal difference, goals scored, group wins in normal time, and head-to-head record.

Opposition

This year, Liverpool were drawn alongside Accrington, Rochdale and Salford in Group D.

League One outfit Accrington – who are unbeaten in the division so far this season – represent the highest-ranked of the Reds’ opponents, with Rochdale and Salford both currently competing in League Two.

Salford, winners of the Papa Johns Trophy in 2020, have collected 13 points from their opening half-a-dozen league fixtures, while Rochdale sit 24th.

Barry Lewtas’ team are set to meet Rochdale for the second successive season in the competition having been beaten 4-0 at Crown Oil Arena in 2021-22.

Fixture dates

Salford City (A) – Tuesday August 30, 7.30pm

Rochdale (A) – Tuesday September 20, 7pm

Accrington (A) – Tuesday October 18, 7.45pm

All kick-off times BST

Squad rules

As an invited club, the Reds’ teamsheet for each fixture must include at least six players in the starting XI who were under the age of 21 on June 30, 2022.

Lewtas can include in his matchday squad a maximum of two players who were over the age of 21 and had made 40 or more appearances at senior level as of June 30, 2022.

For each game, clubs can name up to seven substitutes on the teamsheet and a maximum of five can be used during the 90 minutes.