Liverpool ready to break new ground as season 'kept alive' by new Premier League rules

Liverpool's first team may now realistically be playing for pride over the closing weeks of the season, but it's a different story further down the ranks.

The under-21 side will tread new ground on Sunday when they entertain Crystal Palace at the AXA Training Centre on Kirkby in the first round of the Premier League 2 play-offs.

Under a new system introduced this season, what was previously two divisions has been merged into one 26-team league with each playing 20 games. The top 16 then play a series of straight knockout games depending on league position, with eighth-placed Liverpool taking on Palace, who finished a place below them. The leaders Tottenham Hotspur, for example, take on 16th-placed Aston Villa.

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It isn't dissimilar to the way in which the Champions League will operate next term, and U21s boss Barry Lewtas believes the change has been of benefit.

"Teams in our league are often at different points in their season, so the play-off situation keeps it alive for everyone," he says to the ECHO. "You often don't have your best team available, so the play-offs give the boys something to play for in the closing weeks.

"It's a really nice, different dynamic and it's definitely added something to the season. I have enjoyed the change in approach. There have been certain times of the year - as with other clubs - where Premier League 2 players are with the first team and players have gone out on loan, and you have to build a team into something different together again."

Lewtas adds: "Every year is different and often in the course of a season is it can