Liverpool tomorrow welcome Germany’s Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund to Anfield, for the final pre season friendly for both of Brendan Rodgers and Jurgen Klopp’s sides before the domestic campaigns get underway. It is a sell out occasion on Merseyside and is sure to be a momentous occasion, with two fantastic, passionate, well-run football clubs coming together for a game that should firstly excite the fans, and secondly contribute towards preparations for the season, which gets going next weekend for the home side. BVB have the German Super Cup to play against Bayern Munich upcoming and will see this game as an important fixture.
The first meeting between these two great sides since the UCL fixture in 2001, BVB Dortmund should provide stern opposition for the Reds who are on the back of a greatly entertaining and competitive tour in the US, which saw them play friendlies against AS Roma, Olympiakos, Manchester City, AC Milan and Manchester United.
Liverpool look likely to welcome back Daniel Sturridge after he flew home early from the USA last week with injury, missing the showcase final against Man United. The England frontman has trained and should appear before the season opener against Southampton next Sunday. Philippe Coutinho, Raheem Sterling, Jordon Ibe and Rickie Lambert are all expected to get some minutes, however Adam Lallana and Lazar Markovic will miss the fixture. Lallana out for a further few weeks whilst Markovic faces a race to be fit in time for the Southampton game in 8 days time. Agger, Borni and Flanagan have all also been absent from club training, but Dejan Lovren should make his debut at some point during the game. Javier Manquillo should play.
As for the travelling German side, Dortmund have seemed very excited about the game at Anfield this week and their pre season has gone exactly according to plan, with some strong, confident and comfortable victories. Klopp has fielded strong sides against teams such as Rot Weiss Essen, Chievo, Wroclaw and Osnabruck and tomorrow should be no different. New boys Ciro Immobile and Adrian Ramos are expected to play, as are Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, ex Liverpool loanee Nuri Sahin and Armenian star Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the man who was expected to join the Reds around this time 12 months ago.
Expect the Reds to welcome BVB with open arms to make for a fabulous occasion, the atmosphere should be electric and the day should be a good one for all involved.