Liverpool FC have so much to play for in 2019-20. They’ll look to retain their title as European champions. The Reds, who finished runners-up in the Premier League last season and with the third highest point total in PL history, will also seek to end their long domestic title drought (1990).
Then you also have the two domestic cup tournaments, FA and EFL, to go along with two trophy games: the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea on August 14 and the Community Shield versus Manchester City on Sunday. So there’s six different pieces of silverware to play for right there, and Reds supporters are hopeful that their season doesn’t resemble the dreadfulness of the summer exhibition preseason.
While the Community Shield is a glorified friendly to most, and doesn’t count all that much to some, it is still a trophy match. And it’s important to get off on the right foot and set a good tone for the campaign ahead.
With that in mind, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said he’s concerned about his back line, and how they might perform against high powered, treble winning Manchester City in the Shield game on the weekend.
“We didn’t defend counterattacks well yesterday [against Napoli],” he said in a Monday press conference after he side looked dreadful again in a friendly, losing 3-0 to Napoli.
“If that happened against City then you don’t have a chance. But we know each other well enough to know it will be different next Sunday. If you don’t defend well against City you could get a proper knock and we don’t want that.”
A main reason that Liverpool have been so bad this preseason is the absence of so many key players due to international duty and subsequent holidays. Two of their top three attackers in Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino returned today, as did their No. 1 Alisson Becker.
Klopp didn’t exactly imply that the trio will play this weekend though, and if they do, it likely won’t be for extended minutes.
“I don’t think we can expect to play our best game on Sunday, but it’s about winning,” Klopp continued.
“There are different ways to do it, and we want to find one.”
He also downplayed the significant of fielding a really strong team for it.
“I won the Super Cup in Germany five times — if you win it nobody cares, if you lose it some people care. Do I think it has an influence on the rest of the season? I don’t think so.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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