Mohamed Salah Liverpool 2019

Liverpool set for pre-season tour of USA

Liverpool look set to return to the United States this summer with the Reds close to finalising a three-city pre-season tour.

It had been expected that Jurgen Klopp and his squad would be visiting Asia as part of their preparations for the 2019-20 season. China had been touted as a potential destination, while Liverpool have also visited Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore in recent years.

But Goal has learned that the Reds are now increasingly likely to break with recent tradition, which has seen them alternate from year to year between a North American tour and a Far East trip, by returning to the States this time around.

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Liverpool played three games in the International Champions Cup there last summer, facing Borussia Dortmund in Charlotte, Manchester City in New Jersey and Manchester United in Michigan. And it is understood that Klopp was keen that this summer’s tour should also take place in America, where facilities and training conditions are felt to be better for the manager's pre-season preparations.

A game in Boston, home of Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group, will almost certainly be on the agenda, while it is understood that both New York and Chicago are likely destinations, with the tour to take place in late-July. It is expected, too, that Liverpool will again compete in the International Champions Cup, though that is yet to be confirmed at this stage.

Klopp will hope to have the majority of his first-team squad available for the tour, despite both the Copa America and Africa Cup of Nations taking place this summer.

The Copa America, which will be held in Brazil, takes place between June 14 and July 7, with the likes of Alisson Becker, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino all hoping to be involved with the hosts.

AFCON, meanwhile, will take place in Egypt from June 21 to July 19, with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita all set to feature for their respective countries.

In recent years Liverpool have tended to play a series of ‘domestic’ friendlies, usually away from home against north-west opposition, before heading off on their long-haul pre-season tour.

Last summer, Klopp took them to Evian, France for a week-long training camp before finishing their preparations with a game against Napoli in Dublin and an Anfield fixture against Torino, while in 2017 they took part in the two-day Audi Cup in Munich, alongside Bayern, Atletico Madrid and Napoli.

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