Liverpool will be able to take in a “proper pre-season” this summer – beyond their lucrative tour of Asia – after a tricky first preparation under Arne Slot.
The club have already confirmed two friendlies in the Far East as part of their warmup for a 2025/26 campaign that will see them defend the Premier League title.
Slot’s side will face AC Milan in Hong Kong on July 26 before heading to Japan to face J1 League side Yokohama F. Marinos at the Nissan Stadium on July 30.
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Beyond that, the Reds’ schedule for the summer is as yet unknown, though further domestic and Europe-based are likely to be arranged.
Liverpool will also spend an extended period at the AXA Training Centre – likely from the beginning of pre-season – before heading abroad for a training camp.
Virgil van Dijk, speaking after the 2-1 win over West Ham on Sunday, explained the benefits of a “proper pre-season” as he prepares for the announcement of his new two-year contract.
“Take it all the way back to last summer, l didn’t have a proper pre-season,” he told reporters including the Mail‘s Lewis Steele.
“I think I came in on the Monday before we played Sevilla [in a friendly at Anfield] and I played 90 minutes straight away, then the following week it was Ipswich and then you’re just back into it.
“You don’t have time to work on what the manager really wants in terms of a training camp.
“This year, there is a training camp and there is time for the team to work on what the manager wants and I think that will then improve the team.
“There are still so many things to improve, but we shouldn’t forget the quality that the Premier League possesses because we see it.
“I think a proper pre-season would definitely help the club in order to be even more consistent than we already have been.”
Van Dijk is still speaking with the impression that he has yet to sign fresh terms with Liverpool, but it is widely expected that his contract extension will be announced this week.
Though Slot will grant his players and staff a lengthy break following the final game of the season against Crystal Palace on May 25, the captain will then be among the first players to report back in early July.
With no major international tournaments this summer – and Mohamed Salah already assured of a break from Egypt duty post-season – there are fewer distractions for pre-season.
In previous summers in charge at Feyenoord, Slot took in training camps in Austria – which is a destination already familiar to Liverpool having spent a number of pre-seasons there under Jurgen Klopp.
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