After a hectic ten-day stay in Germany, Liverpool will fly to Singapore for the next leg of their pre-season campaign.
After a brief pit stop on Merseyside, the Reds travel to Asia for friendlies against Leicester City (Sunday July 30) and Bayern Munich (Wednesday August 2).
As fans witnessed high-scoring encounters against Karlsruher SC and Greuther Furth, Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that the team he chooses for the upcoming matches will be much closer to the team they will face in of the Premier League opener on August 13 at Chelsea.
Liverpool and Leicester City have been involved in some exciting encounters in recent years but they will not meet this year unless they meet a draw in the domestic cups after the Foxes entered the Championship at the end of last season.
Nevertheless, an exciting competition awaits fans in Singapore. Here’s everything you need to know about the game.
DATE, KICK-OFF AND STADIUM
Date: Sunday 30 July 2023
Start times: 10am BST / 11am CET
Stadium: Singapore National Stadium (55,000 seats)
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORDS
Liverpool and Leicester City have met 121 times in history, with the Reds making 55 wins since their first game against the Foxes in November 1895.
25 between the sides, as Liverpool have emerged victorious in each of their last three matches against Leicester, with an impressive 7-1 aggregate score.
The sides had met before in Asia before the 2017/18 season, when they met in Hong Kong for the Premier League Asia trophy. Liverpool secured a 2-1 victory that day thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho, while Islam Slimani got his name on the scoresheet for Leicester.
LIVERPOOL TEAM NEWS
Jordan Henderson has not been included in Liverpool’s two pre-season friendlies in Germany, despite him traveling with the squad during talks with Saudi Pro League club Al Ettifaq. The 33-year-old’s transfer is all but agreed and should be confirmed before Liverpool fly to Singapore, so he shouldn’t be a part of the squad.
Fabinho will resume training on Wednesday as his move to Al-Ittihad is at stake, but whether he will link up with the rest of his team-mates remains to be seen. The Brazilian midfielder was not in the squad for the trip to Germany and he is likely to be ruled out again as all sides work to secure his £40m move to Saudi Arabia.
Dominik Szoboszlai is expected to return after missing the 4-4 draw against Greuther Furth by a small touch. Thiago Alcantara could also make his first pre-season appearance after fully recovering from a hip injury.
Liverpool are still in talks to sign Romeo Lavia from Southampton and are set to make a second offer for the midfielder after a £37million bid was rejected. If all goes according to plan, Lavia could meet his new teammates in Singapore, but Liverpool still have some work to do to get the deal over the finish line.
PREDICTED LINEUP
Here’s how Liverpool could start Sunday’s game against Leicester City:
(4-3-3): Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Thiago Alcantara, Alexis MacAllister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz
PREDICTION
Liverpool conceded plenty of goals and goals during the pre-season. So don’t be surprised if we see more against Leicester this weekend.
Liverpool 3-2 Leicester City
