That’s the view of former Red Jason McAteer, who believes Klopp and his players will relish the opportunity to secure their spot in the group stages of the competition in front of their own fans.
Liverpool travel to Germany for the first leg of the tie on August 15, before welcoming the Bundesliga outfit to L4 eight days later.
But while McAteer expects the side who finished fourth in the German top flight last term to provide a stern test, he feels being pitted against high-quality opposition may actually benefit the Reds - especially with the prospect of a big European night at Anfield to come on August 23.
“They’re probably the toughest opponent Liverpool could’ve faced, but I like it in a strange way,” the former Republic of Ireland international told Liverpoolfc.com in Dublin, ahead of Saturday’s friendly against Athletic Club.
“You could get a team that you might feel would be ‘easy’ opposition, that you might take a bit lightly, and you can come undone, but I think this is a good draw for us.
“The lads will prepare properly for it. Obviously Hoffenheim finished fourth last season and the top four in the Bundesliga were the standout teams there, they pulled away from the pack, so they’re certainly not opposition you can take lightly.
“[They’ve got Sandro] Wagner at centre-forward, a Germany international, they’ve got other internationals as well, like [Serge] Gnabry. So it’s a game Liverpool won’t take lightly, as they shouldn’t.”
LFCTV GO: McAteer on Hoffenheim, CL and the Anfield factor
When asked about the significance of playing at home second, McAteer explained: “It can be a massive advantage.
“Obviously we’ve got a manager with fantastic [Champions League] experience from his Borussia Dortmund days, he knows how to handle European competitions and opponents.
“You want to get that away goal, maybe a couple of away goals would ease the tie.
“But failing that, to come back to Anfield with a 0-0, you’d feel Liverpool, with the condition they’re in from pre-season, in a second leg, on a European night - you’d certainly think Liverpool have got enough to get over the challenge Hoffenheim will pose.”
Klopp boasts an excellent recent record against Hoffenheim, having won three and drawn one of his last four clashes with them during his time as Dortmund boss.
“I wouldn’t say that gives Liverpool an advantage, but having a German manager, he’ll keep one eye on the Bundesliga and probably tries to watch as much German football as he can,” McAteer noted.
“He’ll have friends over there and the scouting reports these days are so full that he’ll know what to expect.
“There’s a few big names at Hoffenheim that he’ll know and his record against them when he was managing other football clubs is very, very good.
“But it’s a fresh season, fresh players, an exciting attitude at the start of the season, so it’ll be a tough tie, but I think Liverpool have got enough to get over the hurdle.”
Of course, the Reds only returned from a week-long stay in Germany on Thursday, with their training camp in Rottach-Egern being supplemented by friendlies against Hertha BSC, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid.
And the manner of their 3-0 victory over Bundesliga champions Bayern at the Allianz Arena gives McAteer plenty of reason for optimism about the season ahead, both in the short and long-term.
“[In] the Bayern Munich game, we probably saw the strongest team he [Klopp] had available at the time and we played some exciting football and were good at the back as well - we looked strong and solid against everything Bayern threw at us,” he said.
“We looked organised, we looked fit and we looked eager. That’s a good sign - coming to the end of pre-season, you don’t want the lads to look tired or a bit loose. We look sharp and ready to go and this game [against Hoffenheim] is one that the lads will be excited to play in.
“Obviously Watford, they’ll be raring to go for that, but now they know who they’re playing in the Champions League they’ll be relishing the opportunity to get out there and play in it.”