Liverpool have announced a pre-season tour of America which will include three separate fixtures this summer.
Revealing their plans via their official website, Liverpool will make history in being the first club to be involved in a football fixture at the historic Notre Dame Stadium in Indiana.
It will be a first for the stadium in its 90 year hostory and will see Liverpool entertain German giants Borussia Dortmund.
Also on the tour, Liverpool will face Sevilla at Fenway Park and Sporting Lisbon at the Yankee Stadium in two other games to whet the appetite.
Liverpool have also decided to do this trip differently this year, instead of competing in the usual International Champions Cup which is held every year. The games will be separate to that and will be more traditional friendlies.
Liverpool Managing Director and Chief Commercial officer Billy Hogan told the Liverpool website:
‘We’re heading to three incredible locations this year. Each of the stadiums has their own deep-rooted heritage similar to our own and we’ll face three great opposition teams in Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla and Sporting.’
OPINION
The idea of stepping out of the Champions Cup sees a significant drop in competition also, although Dortmund will certainly offer a stern test, the latter two teams should be straight forward in terms of getting a victory. Compare this to the cup where teams such as Bayern Munich and Real Madrid will compete alongside fellow Premier League sides Arsenal and Manchester United will be playing each and the step up in competition is clear to see. This will definitely affect preparations as Liverpool’s rivals will be playing against the bigger sides which will be seen as better run-outs compared to the challenge that will be offered to Jurgen Klopp’s men when they play a team such as Sporting Portugal, a team who have been left behind their closest rivals in Benfica and a team that Liverpool have already destroyed over two legs in Porto. Some fans might welcome the chance to get easy wins but the chance to play the biggest teams who offer stiffer challenges certainly would be better preparation for Liverpool in what could potentially be a season where they are defending their Premier League title.
