World Cup trio could feature against City

Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Marko Grujic are set for their first minutes of pre-season in Wednesday’s International Champions Cup clash with Premier League rivals Manchester City.

The trio returned from their post-World Cup holiday last Friday following their sides’ respective group-stage exits and jetted to the US with the rest of the squad.

Salah and Mane have not donned the red shirt since May’s Champions League final, in which the former was injured, while Grujic’s last Liverpool appearance came back in December before his loan move to Cardiff City.

But all three are in line to play some part against Pep Guardiola’s side having sufficiently boosted their fitness levels.

Mane and Salah should ultimately be at the level required to slot straight into the side in the season-opener against West Ham, while Grujic is expected to be loaned out and may be looking to attract high-level suitors.

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LONDON, ENGLAND – Saturday, August 6, 2016: Liverpool’s Marko Grujic celebrates scoring the fourth goal against Barcelona during the International Champions Cup match at Wembley Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

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The game marks the beginning of the next stage in Liverpool’s preparations, with Klopp revealing that he will now allow many of his starters 60 minutes rather than 45 as the new season draws closer.

“Usually if you are in Europe – ok, it’s very hot in Europe at the moment – a few of the boys are 100 per cent ready for 90 minutes. That’s how it is,” Klopp told the club website.

“But with the circumstances, we need to make sure we don’t overload them. We have to do training sessions and then the games are only another training session until we play proper league games.

“We will now increase the game time a little bit, 60 minutes or whatever. We have to see how it feels in New York when we play against City.

“You really need to make the decision in that moment. 45 and 45 is perfect in the moment but from now on we will increase it a little bit.”

The match against City at the MetLife Stadium is followed by a meeting with Manchester United in Michigan on Saturday.

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Source: anfieldhq.com