GIVEN that they were top seeds in the Europa League draw, I doubt Liverpool would have hand-picked their play-off round grouping against Trabzonspor.
I’ve played there against them and Trabzon is a wild place I can tell you.
With its location well into Asia in the far eastern reaches of Turkey, you’ve obviously got a lengthy five-hour flight to give there but I’d imagine these days Liverpool will get in and out of there as quickly as possible, arriving as late as and departing as soon as they can.
I was also back in Trabzon when Aston Villa played there under Ron Atkinson.
I remember the hosts scored and a fella a couple of rows in front of me – IN THE PRESS BOX – shot his gun into the air to celebrate.
We all know how passionate the Turks are about their football and Liverpool have played the likes of clubs Galatasaray, and Besiktas in the Champions League but off-the-field distractions apart I don’t think the tie will be a problem.
