Liverpool star gives fans reason to be positive after dreadful pre-season form

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Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson feels that the return of several key players will be a big boost following a disappointing pre-season.

Liverpool had a brilliant 2018/19 season as they lost just seven matches and conceded only 38 goals. The Reds capped off the season in the best possible manner by lifting their 6th Champions League title with a win over Tottenham in Madrid.

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However, the pre-season has been largely disappointing for Jurgen Klopp’s side. The Premier League runners-up began with convincing wins over Tranmere Rovers and Bradford City before losing to Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla. Liverpool then drew against Sporting Lisbon before losing 3-0 to Napoli in Edinburgh yesterday.

So far, Liverpool have many of their regulars in James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Virgil van Dijk, Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip and Georginio Wijnaldum. They are still missing Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Alisson, all of whom were on national duty during the summer.

Robertson feels that the return of Liverpool’s stars will be a huge boost for them. Speaking to Liverpool’s official website after Liverpool’s defeat to Napoli, the Scotland captain said: “The lads coming back, even if they don’t play, it gives you a lift when they train and with the way they go about their business. It doesn’t matter if they play on Wednesday or not, that’s completely up to the manager three days in, but that’s irrelevant: if they’re back in training and back around the place then it makes a difference.

“Mo and Bobby are two of our main men and Alisson was magnificent last season. They are huge characters in the changing room as well so that’ll be massive for us, and then Sadio will come back the following week. Once we get the whole team back together, and I think Shaq and Naby aren’t far off too, they’re players that are familiar around the set-up and around the system and that’s what we need. The quicker we get all of us back together then hopefully the better.

“But it’s not anyone else’s fault, the young lads or whatever who have come in, we’ve all not been good enough and maybe Bobby and Mo and people like that will give us the lift that we need. Hopefully that does happen.”

Mohamed Salah, Alisson and Roberto Firmino are scheduled to join Liverpool’s training camp in Evian today. Whether the trio will be able to play in Wednesday’s match against Lyon is up to Jurgen Klopp but there’s no doubt that their arrival will be a big boost for Liverpool ahead of the club’s Community Shield fixture against Manchester City.

More Stories Alisson Andrew Robertson Jurgen Klopp Roberto Firmino Sadio Mane