A slow start to the Premier League season for Roy Hodgson's side has put the focus firmly on success in other areas, including the League Cup, where the Cobblers will be looking to pull off one of the biggest shocks ever recorded in the history of the competition.
Hodgson may therefore look to field a strong side in a bid to gain a morale-boosting win but, whatever team he chooses, captain Steven Gerrard is vowing that the game is an important one.
"We've got a League Cup game againist Northampton and that competition is very important to us before we play Sunderland next," the England star told the Liverpool Daily Post in the wake of Sunday's defeat at Manchester United.
"Nobody will be sulking because we want to go into the next international break having won all our games."