Football
Liverpool Pre-Season Fixtures 2023/24: Dates, Opponents, and Key Details
Following years of great success for Liverpool, last season was disappointing for the Anfield faithful as they failed to win any domestic trophy bar their 3-1 victory over Manchester City in the Community Shield.
This year, the six-time champions of Europe have made promising signings and will be looking to pressure the blue side of Manchester into making mistakes.
All of that is to come in the competitive season, however, they first have to navigate a pre-season campaign, so we have collected everything you need to know about Liverpool’s next few weeks of football.
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What are pre-season friendlies in football?
A pre-season friendly is an exhibition match where nothing is on the line regarding domestic success and helps teams prepare for the upcoming competitive campaign. They are crucial to a team’s development as new players can learn how to work with their teammates in a game situation to avoid errors when it comes to a league or cup fixture.
Overview of Liverpool’s preseason schedule
Below are the teams Liverpool will be playing during this pre-season campaign alongside the locations, times, and venues of their matches.
- Liverpool vs Leicester City | Singapore | Singapore National Stadium | Sunday, July 30th | 10:00 GMT
- Liverpool vs Bayern Munich | Singapore | Singapore National Stadium | Wednesday, August 2nd | 12:20 GMT
- Liverpool vs Darmstadt | United Kingdom | Deepdale Stadium | Monday August 7th | 19:00 GMT
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Liverpool’s pre-season opponents
The Reds have just three games to play before their clash with Chelsea on the opening weekend of the Premier League and their strongest opponent of the trio is Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
Amazingly, the two dominant European teams have only faced each other three times in competitive matches, two of which Liverpool won away from home and one was a draw at Anfield.
Key players to watch during pre-season
The player football fans will be eager to see is Brighton import Alexis Mac Allister who made his Starting XI debut for Liverpool during a 4-4 draw with Furth on Monday. He was unable to get on the scoresheet, so a few will be hoping he can hit the ground running following his move earlier this transfer window.
Absent from the recent teamsheet was their other big summer signing Dominik Szoboszlai who, according to manager Jurgen Klopp, “rolled his ankle slightly in training” and they didn’t want to take any risks. He is expected to be in the line-up for Sunday’s match against Leicester City.
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Latest news and updates on Liverpool pre-season fixtures
Coming into their final three pre-season matches, one of the transfer rumours floating around Anfield was the potential bid for German midfielder Joshua Kimmich, as reported by a Spanish outlet, however, the Bayern Munich star has shut down the move as he said: “I’m very certain that I will play the coming season at FC Bayern. I have no other plans.”
But with Jordan Henderson out of the door on his way to Al-Ettifaq and Fabinho looking like another who could venture over to Saudi Arabia, the Merseyside club need a replacement.
One player who could be making the move up north is Southampton defensive midfielder Romeo Lavia as, according to Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, there have been “concrete” talks between the two English clubs.
Previous pre-season performances for Liverpool
Since their final game of the regular season, The Reds have played two pre-season friendlies, both against German sides.
The first of which occurred on Wednesday, July 19th in a 4-2 victory against Karlsruher and the second was the previously mentioned high-scoring draw versus Furth.
Although some may be frustrated by a level game against the Bundesliga second-division side, Arsenal have already lost in their pre-season campaign against bitter rivals Manchester United, so Liverpool’s unbeaten nature so far will lift the team’s confidence ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge in just over two weeks.
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Importance of pre-season for Liverpool’s manager and tactics
The brilliant aspect of pre-season for top teams is they get to try different formations with different players to fit a different system of football.
In two games, Liverpool have deployed a standard 4-3-3 with Trent Alexander-Arnold in the holding midfield position and Andy Robertson out at right-back. Furthermore, Klopp has been able to see Luis Diaz link up with two different left-sided midfielders in Cody Gakpo and Szoboszlai providing useful information for the upcoming season.
Predictions for Liverpool’s performance in the upcoming season
Following a few rough patches last season, Liverpool finished in a respectable fifth to secure European football.
Although their 67 points is a far cry from their 92-point haul the campaign prior, good summer signings and a free-up of players should see the former Premier League champions improve this campaign.
Due to the uncertainty about Newcastle’s ability to sustain another season at the top and Manchester United’s lack of big transfer moves, The Reds could be a candidate to finish third in the league this year.
However, one thing fans will be hoping to see is another piece of silverware added to their trophy cabinet, so if they could secure Champions League football for the 2024/25 season as well as a triumphant success in either the League Cup or FA Cup, the Anfield regulars will be able to hold their heads up with pride.
