Match Preview: Liverpool vs Chelsea
Liverpool will hope to continue their 100% pre-season record as they face Chelsea in the first match of their North American tour on Thursday morning.
The Reds have already racked up wins on English soil against Tranmere, Fleetwood, Wigan and Huddersfield, ahead of the International Champions Cup clash against Antonio Conte’s men in California.
Most players that were given an extended break after Euro 2016 have now met up again with the squad, but it is unknown what kind of part they will play in the game.
New signings Ragnar Klavan, Giorgino Wijnaldum and Alex Manninger are all set for their debuts, but the Reds could yet face defensive problems ahead of their first outing in the states.
Joel Matip, Mamadou Sakho and Joe Gomez are all injured, whilst Brad Smith has departed for Bournemouth, meaning Lucas Leiva may slot into the back four again.
Youngsters Shamal George, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ovie Ejaria have all travelled to the states, but 16-year-old Ben Woodburn has remained at home.
Chelsea – a new era
Liverpool and Chelsea remain as two of the most successful clubs in English history, but this friendly will be the first meeting of the Klopp-Conte era.
The Italian manager took over the reigns at Stamford Bridge this summer after guiding his native homeland to a Quarter-Final place at Euro 2016, and he has already made a mark at the club via the transfer market.
Michay Batushayi and Ngolo Kante have already came to the club for a combined fee of £65m, but only the former is expected to play on Thursday night because of Euro 2016 participation.
The Blues have already played three games this summer – all in Austria – losing once and winning twice.
They lost 2-0 to Austria Vienna in their opening match of the summer, before recovering to beat Wolfsberger AC and Atus Ferlach 3-0 and 8-0 respectively.
Previous Meetings
The duo have faced off on neutral ground on four ocassions in recent memory, with both sides taking two wins each.
Most recently, Chelsea beat Liverpool at Wembley Stadium to lift the 2012 FA Cup, but the Reds tasted success at the Semi-Final stage of the same competition in 2006, prior to beat West Ham in the final.
That victory earned a rematch with the then Premier League champions in the Community Shield at the Millenium Stadium the following season, which the Reds also won.
Travelling Squads
Liverpool (from): Karius, Mignolet, Manninger, George; Clyne, Moreno, Flanagan, Randall, Klavan, Wisdom, Alexander-Arnold, Can, Grujic, Henderson, Milner, Stewart, Brannagan; Ejaria, Lallana, Markovic, Mane, Coutinho, Ojo, Wijnaldum; Firmino, Ings, Sturridge, Ings, Benteke.
Chelsea (from): Coutrouis, Blackman, Begovic, Baxter; Terry, Ivanovic, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Baba Rahman, Aina, Miazga, Hector, Tomori; Matic, Fabregas, Oscar, Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah, Hazard, Kenedy, Moses, Cuadrado; Willian, Pedro, Costa, Remy, Batshuayi, Traore, Abraham