The domestic football competition in Europe is just a few weeks away, and teams are gradually preparing for the event, playing some friendly fixtures to gear up for the long season ahead. Liverpool, who started their preseason early, will face Italian giants AS Roma at the Busch Stadium on Monday.
Liverpool, under the watchful eyes of Jurgen Klopp, have undergone some serious training in Melwood, and in the U.S. Such training is a huge must for Klopp, who wants his players to be physically fit ahead of the new season.
Klopp has also made some impressive signings, including Joel Matip, Georginio Wijnaldum and Sadio Mane. These new signings have gelled as a unit, quickly, to shine in Liverpool reds, which should delight the manager. Liverpool have played six matches in the preseason so far, winning five of them in an impressive manner, and their only blip has been against Chelsea.
With the league coming closer, Klopp will want to see his key players in fine shape, and shining on the field as well. In their last encounter against AC Milan, which they won 2-0, players like Daniel Stirridge and Divock Origi featured, and looked quite bright.
Talking after the victory, Klopp said, "This is time for fitness, that's it. We have to use it. We play games and they are important, but they are not Premier League games. So we don't have to think about it too much in the week and days before we play. It's more intense in the Premier League season."
"But with the style of play we are in a good way. It was the second game we played. The first game we lost, I know, but even then we were dominant against Chelsea. We played football. That's the thing you have to train because it's not natural in a team that you play together. You can all play but to play together you have to train. I'm fine with the status quo but I know we have a long way to go."
Before the league starts, Liverpool have just three friendlies left, including this Roma match, where Klopp might give more time to his main players. Though it is a friendly match, both teams will be keen to come up with a win, as it could build confidence for their domestic season.
Roma, who defeated Terek Grozny in their last friendly encounter, have a quality manager in the form of Luciano Spalletti, who took over in January. He will want to attain higher things with the club. The manager was in charge of Roma from 2005-09, and it is his second stint as the club's coach, and would love to see big players like Antonio Rudiger and Stephane El Shaarawy.
This game against Liverpool will prove to be their stern test, and could play an important role in determining how ready they are for the Series A title race, which is going to be huge. Roma finished third last season.
Where to Watch Live
Liverpool vs AS Roma is scheduled for a 8:30 p.m. EDT (6 a.m. IST, 1:30 a.m. BST) start. Below are the live streaming and TV information.
India: TV: Sony ESPN. Live Streaming: Sonyliv.
UK: TV: LFC TV Live streaming:LFC TV GO
USA: TV: ESPN. Live Streaming: Watch ESPN.
Ireland: LFC TV
China: TV: Guangdong Sports and LeTV.
