When your opponent is currently the second-best team in Slovenia to a club managed by Igor Bišćan; when the host venue, the People’s Garden, looks from the outside more like an Olympic velodrome; when, indeed, press conferences are held in converted gymnasiums furnished with climbing walls, it would be tempting to think Thursday nights in the Europa League are back on the agenda for Liverpool.

They could still be, of course, should they – as huge favourites – somehow find a way not to beat Maribor in their next two Champions League fixtures, having so far failed to win either of their opening two group stage games.

Finding a way not to win seems an appropriate turn of phrase for this Liverpool side because they would have claimed six points instead of two from Sevilla and Spartak Moscow had it not been for the defensive errors that have pockmarked their season, if not Jürgen Klopp’s entire time as manager.

Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Loris Karius – 4 out of 10 Didn’t have too much to do but looked nervous when the crosses did come in and his loose pass nearly gave United the lead. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Nathaniel Clyne – 5 out of 10 Couldn’t attack anywhere near as much as he normally likes to and was restricted in what he could contribute. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Joel Matip – 7 out of 10 Had a good battle with Ibrahimovic throughout and probably got the better of the big Swede. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Dejan Lovren – 7 out of 10 Like Matip, did well to keep Ibrahimovic quiet and read the play well. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings James Milner – 7 out of 10 Could have had a tough night against Rashford but continued his impressive run at left back. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Jordan Henderson – 5 out of 10 Struggled to get his foot on the ball as he lost the midfield battle to United’s pairing. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Emre Can – 5 out of 10 Much of the play passed him by as it seems he is still lacking match fitness on his first Premier League start of the season. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Sadio Mane – 6 out of 10 Continued to drop deep in hope of making something happen and was probably the liveliest of Liverpool’s attacking players. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Philippe Coutinho – 5 out of 10Philippe Coutinho – 5 out of 10 Looked out of sorts and made uncharacteristic errors with his forward passing and crossing. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Roberto Firmino – 5 out of 10 Similar to Coutinho, he also struggled to find any space between the lines to work in. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Daniel Sturridge – 4 out of 10 Anonymous in the first half and replaced before the hour mark by Lallana. He has now gone 615 minutes without a Premier League goal. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings David De Gea – 8 out of 10 Didn’t put a foot wrong and was needed to pull off two world-class saves from Can and Coutinho. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Antonio Valencia – 8 out of 10 Continued his fine start to the season and saved the game for United with a stunning last-ditch challenge. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Chris Smalling – 6 out of 10 Did well to keep Coutinho and co. out but United’s captain for the night was overshadowed by his new centre-back partner. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Eric Bailly – 7 out of 10 A strong and commanding performance by Bailly as he kept Liverpool’s attacking quartet quiet. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Daley Blind – 5 out of 10 Could have been found out with his lack of pace but held his own against the Reds’ pacey attacks. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Marouane Fellaini – 7 out of 10 Helped control the game from midfield and broke up play well alongside Herrera. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Ander Herrera – 8 out of 10 Was the best outfield player of the game. He was dynamic and won possession well on multiple occasions. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Paul Pogba – 5 out of 10 Played in a more advanced role but other than a few neat passes he looked frustrated as he struggled to make anything happen. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Marcus Rashford – 5 out of 10 Didn’t get past Milner as much as he’d have liked but the one time he did he fired in a dangerous cross that Liverpool struggled to deal with. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Ashley Young – 6 out of 10 Did exactly what he was put into the team for. Crossed well and worked back industriously to keep Clyne quiet. Liverpool vs Manchester United player ratings Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 4 out of 10 Cut a frustrated figure up front as he struggled to link with his midfielders amid the pressure from Matip and Lovren.

The focus here, though, surely has to be on Liverpool’s attack. Very simply, if Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah or, perhaps, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain play well, surely it will be too much for a defence that is marshalled by Jasmin Handanović, who is not even the best goalkeeper in his family. Younger cousin Samir has been Internazionale’s No 1 since 2012.

Oxlade-Chamberlain is considered on the list of threats because of his encouraging cameo performance in Liverpool’s goalless draw with Manchester United on Saturday. He is creeping into Klopp's thoughts for a starting place, though do not expect him to play in the centre of midfield. So far, he has only trained as a winger and that means he will play as a winger for Klopp, who keenly explained why one of Liverpool’s most expensive signings in history is being introduced slowly.

“Apart from Mo Salah who we have been working with for four or five months, the rest have been together with me for pretty much 15-16 months and that makes a big difference," Klopp said. "Obviously, it is a different style to Arsenal and a different role to the wing-back role he played in his last games for Arsenal. Then he plays for England and they all come back from their national teams not confused, but with different plans. That is not too simple. I would say there has been no consistency until now. We let him run so far, let him do what he is naturally good at and it will take time but it's all good. He is obviously powerful and that is what we need.

“It is easy – at the moment he is more the wing that the eight,” Klopp added. “I was not only happy about his offensive situation a lot (against United when he was introduced as a substitute). I also liked the way he reacted after we lost the ball little things.

“For now, it makes more sense to pick him in the more offensive positions. But it is not fixed for the next five years.”

Klopp is introducing Oxlade-Chamberlain into life at Liverpool slowly (Getty)

Klopp, however, stressed there would be limited rotation tomorrow night.

“It is a moment now where all of us have rhythm, so the last thing I would do is come here to rotate in a game like this where already everybody is saying 'that's the easy one' in the group,” Klopp said.

“And then I come with six or seven changes? No, we respect this opponent, we know it is unbelievably important for us, so nobody should expect 11 changes.”