Liverpool Football Club have confirmed the pre-season plans for both the U21s and U18s sides. Michael Beale’s U21s and Neil Critchley’s U18s will both travel to Germany as they prepare for their respective seasons. When they return, the U21s will face Celtic and Morecambe whilst the U18s will play a mini-tournament against sides such as Man United, Spurs and Ipswich Town between 22 and 24 July.
The joint squad of players will fly out to Munich on 10 July and play two games before returning to Liverpool on 22 July.
Their first fixture will be against Bundesliga 3 side Sonnerhof Grossaspach on Saturday 16 July before they take on Bundesliga 2 side Erzgebirge in another friendly four days later, with both games kicking off at 7pm.
U21s Head Coach Beale hinted that the squad he is taking to Munich will be very young, so it is expected that U18 stars such as Ben Woodburn, Ovie Ejaria, Adam Phillips and Herbie Kane will more than likely feature.
The U21s will travel to Welsh Premier League side Rhyl just 48 hours after arriving back in Liverpool, before travelling to Scottish Premier League side Celtic, with a friendly against Brendan Rodgers’ side on 27 July.
Liverpool have recent history against Celtic, with Beale’s men securing a 2-0 win in the Premier League U21 International Cup, with Brooks Lennon and Cameron Brannagan on target in December.
The U21s will end their pre-season preparations when they visit SkyBet League Two side Morecambe on 30 July, with the young Reds looking to make it three games unbeaten against the Shrimpers.
Head Coach Beale told the Liverpool Echo: “These are all varied challenges for the boys but it’s brilliant because we get to play against first team, which you don’t get during the season, so we have to grab every opportunity we get to do that.”
Elsewhere, Neil Critchley’s U18s will take part in a mini-tournament in the city when they arrive back from Munich.
Liverpool will play against sides such as Ipswich, Man United, Tottenham, AIK Stockholm, Tatran Presov and TPS Turku in the tournament.
The Reds beat Ipswich in the FA Youth Cup last season and secured emphatic victories over Man Utd last season so will be heading into the tournament full of confidence.
Liverpool kick off their pre-season calendar on Friday when the face National League side Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park in which youngsters Cameron Brannagan, Kevin Stewart and Sheyi Ojo are likely to feature.
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The start of another year full of hopeful talent. Who knows, one of these players could be the next Gerrard. Hopefully hey!