Jurgen Klopp has revealed a number of youngsters are set to feature for Liverpool against Tranmere on Thursday.
The Reds play the newly promoted League One side on Thursday, with Bobby Duncan and Paul Glatzel set to be used with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane expected to return to Melwood late after international duty.
Klopp is set to use these games to give academy prospects the chance to prove that they can make the trip to America on their pre-season tour.
The German said to the Mirror: “Only as an example, Bobby Duncan and Paul Glatzel: our offensive line that played last year is coming pretty late in joining us in the pre-season, so we have to be creative system-wise and all that stuff, but there will be moments when they have to play.”
Liverpool travel to America after their game with Bradford next week and will face Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla, Sporting CP, and Napoli.
OPINION
This is definitely the right call from Klopp, who will be using the chance to evaluate his squad. Using young players will also give him the opportunity to look at squad members that wouldn’t usually get the opportunity because of Liverpool’s prolific front-three who have rarely changed around in the Premier League – only when they are injured or suspended. Duncan was in electrifying form for the under-18’s squad last season, scoring 18 goals and assisting a further six in 21 league appearances at his age level. The 18-year-old also made the step up to the under-23’s squad three times during the campaign, featuring in 63 minutes of game time. German youth international, Glatzel, was also in great form for the Reds’ under-18’s too. The young forward partnered Duncan and scored 13 and assisted a further two goals. Glatzel also featured for the higher age group and also managed to score a single goal in his run-outs. This is their opportunity to stake their claim for senior football this season – with the youngsters surely having the chance to play in cup competitions next season should they impress.
