The Reds are preparing to get their Premier League season underway with a trip to Stamford Bridge this weekend and the squad are in good spirits as they make the finishing touches.
Liverpool travel to Chelsea on Sunday afternoon to kick off their 2023/24 campaign and the club have released fresh training content ahead of the contest.
As has become customary under Jurgen Klopp, the squad came together to sing Happy Birthday to Joel Matip in each of the players’ respective languages.
It gave an opportunity for the birthday wishes to be passed on in Hungarian for the first time, as new signing Dominik Szoboszlai gave his rendition of the song.
Check out Szobo’s rendition of Happy Birthday for Matip ? Sound on ?
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— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 9, 2023
Thiago and Stefan Bajcetic were involved in training as they continue to work towards making a full recovery from their hip and adductor injuries respectively.
Luke Chambers also trained with the group having been linked to loan moves elsewhere throughout the summer, but there was no sign of Darwin Nunez as the Reds prepared for Chelsea.
The Uruguayan may simply have been elsewhere or undertaking an individual training programme, but he was absent from the latest training footage.
The manager offered a potential hint regarding his team selection for the clash, with Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota all involved in a game of head tennis away from the others.
The 10 outfielders who started the final pre-season game against Darmstadt on Monday night were in second-day recovery but you certainly wouldn’t bet against them all being involved from the start this weekend.
Szoboszlai and Salah were the eventual winners of the head tennis tournament, with the games featuring as much competitiveness as you’d expect from the senior squad!
Liverpool will be hoping to make a fast start to 2023/24 in the capital on Sunday afternoon, with dropped points in the opening three fixtures of last season setting the tone for an inconsistent campaign last time out.
The Reds will be without Champions League football for the first time since 2016 and will be keen to ensure that the hiatus is an extremely brief one.
