Liverpool face La Liga champions Barcelona at Wembley on Saturday evening in their penultimate game of pre-season.
The Reds are back on home soil after an injury-ravaged US tour that saw them lose to Chelsea 1-0, beat AC Milan 2-0, then lose to Roma 2-1.
Mamadou Sakho, Lucas Leiva, Joe Gomez and Loris Karis are all set to miss the game through injury, but Joel Matip and Marko Grujic will both feature at some point this weekend after missing the past two games.
James Milner may be forced to deputize at left-back again if Alberto Moreno has not recovered from a dead leg, whilst Gigi Wijnaldum will be hoping for an improved performance to force his way into Klopp’s thinking for the Premier League opener next week.
Barcelona – A class of their own
The Catalan giants need no introduction, coming off a season that saw them win La Liga, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup titles.
Luis Enrique is yet to welcome back many of his Euro 2016 stars, but Lionel Messi is available alongside former Liverpool duo Luis Suarez and Javier Mascherano.
The Uruguayan netted in Barca’s 4-2 win over Leicester City on Wednesday night – their second friendly of the summer following a 3-1 win over Celtic – adding to efforts from Munir El Haddadi (2) and Rafa Mujica.
17-year-old Mujica is just one of a number of youngsters that have impressed for the Spaniards this summer, and Enrique is likely to keep the faith for this encounter.
Previous meetings
The Reds came out on a top of a famous Champions League tie between the two in 2007, remembered by most for Craig Bellamy’s golf club celebration after an altercation with John Arne Riise.
Fittingly, it was both men who scored as Liverpool took a 2-1 lead back to Anfield with them. Eider Gudjohnson’s sole goal gave the Spaniard’s a 1-0 win in the second leg, but that was not enough to prevent the Reds from going through.
Squads
Liverpool (from): Mignolet, Manninger, George; Clyne, Randall, Moreno, Lovren, Klavan, Wisdom, Alexander-Arnold; Can, Stewart, Henderson, Milner, Grujic, Brannagan, Lallana, Markovic, Coutinho, Ojo, Wijnaldum; Firmino, Ings, Sturridge, Benteke, Origi
Barcelona (from): Ter Stegen, Bravo; Douglas, Pique, Mascherano, Vidal, Vermaelen, Mathieu, Umiti, Digne; Rakitic, Busquets, D Suarez, Turan, Rafinha, Roberto, Samper, Gomes; Suarez, Messi, Munir, Tello
