Liverpool have confirmed they will play one final pre-season friendly this Saturday as they count down to the beginning of the 2020/21 Premier League campaign.
Jürgen Klopp’s Premier League champions will play Blackpool at 15:00 (UK time) on Saturday, September 5th, at Anfield.
League One side Blackpool are managed now by former Liverpool U23s boss Neil Critchley. Fans may remember that Critchley took charge of Liverpool’s young ‘first-team’ last December when they lost in the League Cup at Villa Park.
Critchley was the man on the sideline that night as Klopp and the senior members of the first-team squad were all in Qatar for the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup, a trophy The Reds would lift after beating Flamengo 1-0 after extra-time in the final.
Critchley replaced David Dunn as Blackpool boss in early March this year. However, just weeks later, the League One season was drawn to a premature close due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Blackpool finished 13th in the table after standings were amended to reflect a points-per-game ratio.
As with the friendlies against VfB Stuttgart and RB Salzburg, Klopp is likely to go with a strong starting eleven. It will be interesting to see if any of Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold or Joël Matip get any game-time against Blackpool. All three players are recovering from injury and have not featured in a pre-season game or the Community Shield.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ki-Jana Hoever, Xherdan Shaqiri and Divock Origi are also injured and will most likely not be fit to play any part against Blackpool.
Saturday’s game against The Seasiders will be The Reds’ final friendly before they welcome newly-promoted Leeds United to Anfield the following weekend as the Premier League season gets underway.
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