Liverpool will hope to kill two birds with one stone when they travel Genk for a crucial Champions League on Wednesday (9pm).
Having been denied a record-equalling 18th Premier League win in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United, they now have the chance to bounce back to winning ways and end an embarrassing run of four group-game defeats.
Despite going on to win the Champions League final last season, the Reds lost all of three trips on the road before advancing from the group on goals scored and only registered one win in their last 10 Euro trips.
That sequence continued with an opening-day 2-0 reverse at Napoli.
And they face another tough test against a Genk side who haven’t tasted defeat in their last five matches.
HOMECOMING: Divock Origi. Picture: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters.
One man who will be desperate to get on the scoresheet will be Liverpool’s former Genk striker Divock Origi.
The Belgian international spent nine years at the club, learning his trade before impressing in the Red Devils’ run to the 2014 World Cup quarterfinals and earning a move to Merseyside.
His role at Anfield has been that of a bit-part player, but the 24-year-old proved his worth last season with crucial goals late in the Prem season.
And his double helped knock out Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal and sealed the win over Tottenham in the final.
DOUBT: Mo Salah. Picture: Denis Balibouse/Reuters.
He will be hoping to get the nod from coach Jurgen Klopp with star man Mo Salah still a doubt due to an ankle injury, despite reports that he would be fit for the trip to Old Trafford.
Klopp says of the Egyptian striker: “Mo was not ready, that’s how it is. I don’t know where it came from that everybody said he will play.
“There was pretty much no chance, maybe for Wednesday, we have to see.”