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3.56pm, US: Touchdown in the Steel City! After barely a bump along the way, the Reds arrive in Pittsburgh, stepping onto US soil for the first time since the summer of 2019. There’s a time-zone jump to get accustomed to – here, it’s five hours behind UK clocks – and a predictably humid temperature greets us too. But spirits are high all-round and we’re now just a hop on a bus away from setting up camp in the city. This provides a chance for a spot of Pittsburgh trivia competitiveness: did you know there are 446 bridges here?

6.15pm, US: For the media team, there’s an appointment with LFC CEO Billy Hogan as he tells us about his excitement for the fortnight ahead, both in terms of football and the club’s planned activities during the visit.

“It’s a part of being one of the biggest clubs in the world, is you’ve got supporters who are all over the world,” he says. “Many of whom will never have the chance to come to Anfield and never get the chance to see Liverpool play a match live in the UK or Europe. It’s our opportunity, and we feel like it’s our responsibility, to take the club out and to be able to engage with supporters more directly.

“It’s important for us to do that wherever we are in the world, that’s something we really look forward to when we come out to these communities, doing events in the communities and really engaging with our supporters here on the ground.”

6.30pm, US: For the players, it’s time for a stretch inside the team hotel before they embark on a group walk around the environment they will be calling home for the next five days. The Reds have already caused a little stir, too – we spotted plenty of Pittsburgh Pirates fans striving to catch a glimpse of the men from Merseyside as they made their way to nearby PNC Park for the evening’s Major League Baseball clash with the St. Louis Cardinals.