Liverpool continue their pre-season schedule with a trip to Ewood Park tonight as Jurgen Klopp’s side take on newly-promoted Championship side Blackburn Rovers just a few days before jetting off to the United States ahead of the International Champions Cup.
With the World Cup dominating this summer’s headlines, it’s been a fairly low-key preparation from the Reds up until now, with games against the likes of Chester, Tranmere Rovers and Bury proving good workouts for those who did not travel to Russia with their respective nations.
Jurgen Klopp is still without many of his big names for the short trip to Lancashire, though this can afford some of the players currently available to get a good head start on the rest of the squad. Clearly, a squad as talented as Liverpool’s retains a huge amount of quality even without some of the World Cup stars, so there’s certainly every chance those available now will give their manager a welcome headache,
With that in mind, here’s a look at Liverpool’s ideal situation against Blackburn tonight.
Even if Loris Karius performs brilliantly this season, everyone will still remember that infamous night in Kiev as Real Madrid pounced on his controversial concussion to put the Reds to the sword in the Champions League final. Still, the Reds are yet to bring in a new ‘keeper, so the German will have to do for now.
After messing up against Tranmere Rovers, he really could do with a solid performance. Obviously, Liverpool will be expected to batter Rovers, but Tony Mowbray’s side do possess a certain amount of quality, so a big showing would go some way into restoring at least a shred of his confidence.
Adam Lallana’s problems with injury last season cost him a place in England’s World Cup squad, as well as putting him out of Liverpool’s thinking. With Philippe Coutinho having now departed, the Reds lack a truly creative midfielder and, while they still may sign someone for that role, few would doubt Lallana’s quality there.
The former Southampton man needs to get back to his best and tonight can give him the platform on which to start that process.
Dominic Solanke was unlucky last season. The one-cap England international may still be a work in progress but having to play back-up to perhaps Europe’s most exciting front three can’t have helped his confidence.
One of Liverpool’s big problems last season was a lack of squad depth and, if Solanke can develop into a reliable goalscorer behind Roberto Firmino at the focal point of the attack, it’ll seriously help address that very issue. A goal or two at Ewood Park could have the former Chelsea man feeling good.
