On Friday, the Reds announced a 16-man squad for yesterday’s friendly against HJK in Helsinki. The squad included a mix of youth and experience, with the remaining members of the first-team likely to feature in the game against Swindon Town later today.
SEE MORE:
Kolo Toure reveals why he turned down other offers to stay with Liverpool
Christian Benteke’s Liverpool squad number announced
Liverpool’s thirteen best transfers of all time named by the Echo – with Dalglish, Rush and Suarez
In the list below, we take a look at how Liverpool are likely to line-up against the League One side…
GK) Adam Bogdan
He’s split the goalkeeping duties with Simon Mignolet thus far, so it’s not surprising to see both players get their chance to impress in parallel friendly games. It would be nice to see Bogdan tested more than in the Far East.
RB) Daniel Cleary
With Andre Wisdom having gone out on loan, there’s no obvious candidate for this position. The most likely scenario is that the Reds choose to give a youngster a run out – with this teeange academy hopeful the best bet.
LB) Alberto Moreno
The Spaniard will be disappointed to have missed out on what looks to be the more senior side. However, his recent injury problems could arguably have something to do with that. He needs to impress ahead of Stoke.
CB) Kolo Toure
The veteran defender will likely captain this side in the absence of Henderson. The centre-back positions are still very much up for grabs this season and a strong performance here will do his chances no harm at all.
CB) Mamadou Sakho
Sakho will be slightly bemused by the fact that Rodgers appears to be sticking with his Skrtel and Lovren combination, which has looked fairly shaky thus far. He needs to play his normal game and prove himself again.
DM) Lucas Leiva
This is an interesting one. Jordan Henderson and James Milner were the only senior midfielders that made the trip to Helsinki, leaving Lucas, Can and Allen to battle it out for third starting spot alongside them against Stoke.
CM) Emre Can
The German has said time and time again that he wants to prove himself in midfield this season. This is his first chance to start doing that and as it will be his only pre-season game he could very much do with taking it.
CM) Joe Allen
He’s been in and out in pre-season thus far, having struggled with a minor niggle. As a result, he’s probably at the bottom of the pecking order as things stand, so a strong performance here could help to start changing that.
AM) Lazar Markovic
He only got an hour of pre-season under his belt thus far and will be hoping for a full ninety minutes to impress in this one. The Serbian is coming off the back of a difficult season and would love to prove some of the fans wrong.
AM) Roberto Firmino
We’re all hoping against home that the Brazilian will be ready to make his debut in this game. The summer signing from Hoffenheim looks a real exciting prospect and the fans cannot wait for the chance to see him in action.
ST) Christian Benteke
The same is true of the former Villa man, who will look to get off to the perfect start following his big money move. The pressure is going to be on him almost immediately and scoring an early goal here would ease a lot of nerves.
Subs:
1) Lawrence Vigouroux
The young goalkeeper would likely get the nod here, with Fulton having travelled to Helskini with the first-team. He’s the most senior stopper remaining in our squad and he’ll likely make up the numbers here.
2) Jordan Rossiter
The midfielder was one of the more prominent youngsters on the pre-season tour of the Far East and it would be surprising to see him too far away from this squad. He’ll likely get some time on the pitch in the second-half.
3) Joao Carlos Teixeira
Teixeira did brilliantly to make the pre-season tour, having suffered a broken his leg during the second-half of last season. He’ll hope to get a little more of a chance in this game, having only enjoyed 45 minutes in Thailand.
4) Sheyi Ojo
There’s been a lot of buzz around this teenager, who did well on loan at Wigan last season, and it would be nice to see a little more of him in action. He could earn himself another loan move with a strong performance here.
5) Harry Wilson
The Welsh international didn’t get any time on the pitch during the pre-season tour, so is surely overdue a shot at the first-team among some of his more senior teammates in this one. It’ll be a real chance to prove himself.
