Fixtures, format and rules of the Papa John's Trophy to be played by Liverpool

Liverpool will face Salford City, Rochdale and Accrington Stanley) as an away Premier League guest club in the group stage of the Papa John's Trophy. Liverpool U21s will begin their participation on Tuesday evening.

Match Dates

Salford City (A) - Tuesday 30 August, 7.30pm
Rochdale (A) - Tuesday 20 September, 7pm
Accrington (A) - Tuesday 18 October, 19:45pm
*All match times are BST.

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Format

The group stage is divided into north and south sections, consisting of 16 groups of four teams, who will play each other only once. The guest club in each group will be the away club for all their matches. In the event of a draw in normal time, a penalty shoot-out will be held and the winners will secure an additional point.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout phase of the tournament. Teams tied on points will be separated, in order, by: goal difference, goals scored, group wins in normal time and head-to-head record. This year, Liverpool have been drawn in Group D alongside Accrington, Rochdale and Salford.

Rules

As a guest club, the Reds squad for each match must include at least six players in the starting XI who were under the age of 21 on 30 June 2022.

Lewtas may include in his squad a maximum of two players aged 21 or over who have made 40 or more appearances up to 30 June 2022. Clubs can name up to seven substitutes per match and a maximum of five can be used for 90 minutes.