Lack of training a worry for Klopp

LONDON • Despite playing four games in pre-season, Jurgen Klopp still feels that his Liverpool players are not in peak condition for the new Premier League season, which starts next week.

The Reds will be at the King Power Stadium today to take on English champions Manchester City in the Community Shield, the traditional curtain-raiser to the upcoming campaign which will be unlike anything in history.

For the first time, this year's World Cup will be held in November and December to mitigate the summer heat of Qatar.

That means the Premier League is not only starting earlier than usual due to an unprecedented prolonged mid-season break, but there are also major ramifications for the players.

While it is customary for players to go on their holidays after a major international tournament, that is not possible this season, with the English top flight scheduled to resume just eight days after the World Cup final on Dec 18.

English football authorities will be sticking to the traditional jam-packed festive schedule and, with that sequence of games coming so soon after the World Cup, Klopp is fully aware of the intense physical demands being put on players.

The more games they play, the higher the risk of injury and Liverpool will not be spared as the majority of his squad are expected to play a role in Qatar.

To counter that, Klopp intends to extend his team's pre-season beyond the start of the term.

They will host French Ligue 1 side Strasbourg in a friendly at Anfield tomorrow, but after beginning their league campaign at newly promoted Fulham on Aug 6, the German plans to fix another warmup game against as-yet unnamed opponents.

Ahead of the clash with City, Klopp said: "The situation is that (Saturday) is a very important game but we still have to prepare (for) a season, so we cannot ignore that.

"We played last night against (RB) 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 the City contest as they continue to recover from injuries.

With backup Caoimhin Kelleher also unfit, Adrian is set to feature in between the sticks, while Darwin Nunez is poised to make his first competitive appearance since joining from Benfica for an initial £64 million (S$107 million).

The Uruguay forward has big boots to fill as Sadio Mane's replacement, scorer of 120 goals in 269 games across six seasons on Merseyside.

It is imperative that Nunez settles into life at Anfield as soon as possible as FA Cup and League Cup winners Liverpool - who missed out on the quadruple by one point to City in the league and one goal to Real Madrid in the Champions League - seek to again mount a challenge on all fronts.

Aside from Nunez, Klopp has been conservative in the transfer market, signing Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay for modest sums, with both youngsters set to play understudy roles.

However, the Liverpool boss is confident his squad are over their heartache and are ready to fight for the biggest trophies again.

"Of course we have had a little change in our team. We lost Sadio, who was a fixed line-up player for six years," he said.

"But it's always like this. We cannot try and stick together forever... we had time to prepare for that situation and that's what we did. And now we have to find togetherness again. That's completely normal as well."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

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