LONDON — Liverpool will play a friendly one day after their English Premier League opener at Fulham next weekend, manager Jurgen Klopp said, adding that his players need more match practice to cope with a packed schedule in the 2022-23 season.
Liverpool, who have played Manchester United, Crystal Palace, RB Leipzig and Salzburg during pre-season, clash with Manchester City in the Community Shield at Leicester’s King Power Stadium on Saturday.
They will host Ligue 1 side Strasbourg in a friendly at Anfield on Sunday and begin their league campaign at Fulham on Aug. 6 Klopp said Liverpool will play another friendly the following day against as-yet unnamed opponents to get players up to speed for the new season, which begins earlier than usual because of the World Cup in Qatar in November and December.
“The situation is that (Saturday) is a very important game but we still have to prepare (for) a season, so we cannot ignore that,” Klopp said according to Reuters.
“We played last night against Salzburg, we lost 1-0. We trained the day before twice, so pretty intense… I cannot ignore the fact that after this important (Community Shield) game there is a season coming up. So we have to extend our pre-season into the season.
“From mid-August on, I think we play every three days, so there is no time for training any more. So we try to do the right things and the schedule is always a challenge, that’s how it is.” Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson and forward Diogo Jota will miss Saturday’s game against City as they continue to recover from injuries.
Reds keeper Alisson has been struggling with an abdominal problem throughout pre-season, while Portugal forward Jota is dealing with a hamstring injury.
Liverpool boss Klopp confirmed that both players would be missing from the traditional curtain-raiser to the English top-flight season at the King Power Stadium.
Alisson is the closest to being available having resumed training, but the Brazilian is targeting the opening Premier League game against Fulham on 6 August.
Jota faces a longer spell on the sidelines and was not with the squad at their training camp in Austria this week.
“Ali trained more than the day before, so he will definitely be available for Fulham, but not for the weekend,” Klopp said according to AFP.
“Diogo is not here with us so how could he play a football game? It will take a while, unfortunately.”
Due to the early start to the campaign this year, Klopp admits he has not had enough time in pre-season to do all the work he would have liked.
Because of that, Liverpool will play another friendly against Strasbourg after the Community Shield.
The FA Cup and League Cup holders are also due to arrange another warm-up fixture even after the top-flight campaign starts at Fulham.
“We have to extend our pre-season, if you like, into the season,” Klopp said.
“We play on Saturday against City and we play a pre-season friendly on Sunday against Strasbourg. Then Fulham and the next day we play another game.”
Despite the tricky preparations for a season that will also feature a winter break for the World Cup in Qatar, Klopp is hoping his side can hit the ground running this weekend against Premier League champions City.
City pipped Liverpool to the title by just one point on the final day of last season.
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