Liverpool have announced four pre-season friendlies as their warm-up programme for the 2016-17 campaign begins to take shape, a number of their matches notably closer to Merseyside than in previous years.
Having already agreed to travel to the United States to participate in the International Champions Cup, the Reds will first face four sides a little closer to home - with Jürgen Klopp likely to have had some say in the decision.
With it already well documented that the German will impose a rigorous pre-season training plan upon his players, the Reds boss will be keen to ensure less travelling as they prepare for his first full season in charge.
As a result they will kick off their pre-season schedule against non-league Tranmere Rovers, facing their rivals across the Mersey for the first time since 2008 at Prenton Park on July 8.
Following that, Klopp's charges will take on League One outfit Fleetwood Town and Highbury Stadium five days later on July 13, before a trip to Wigan Athletic, recently promoted back to the Championship, awaits at the DW Stadium on July 17.
Liverpool round off the more local of their fixtures away at another Championship side in Huddersfield Town at the John Smiths' Stadium on July 20, in a first match-up since 1999 as Klopp comes up against his friend David Wagner in the opposite dug-out.
Those four matches will likely see the club's youngsters given their opportunity to impress and could hand vital minutes for players recovering from long-term injuries, with Joe Gomez and Danny Ings looking to bounce back strongly from lengthy knee ligament injuries.
Furthermore, with the European Championships not finishing until July 10 - a number of Liverpool's first-team internationals will not be present unless their countries are eliminated early from the competition. Five of the 12 players in line to feature at the finals will be with England, including captain Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, Nathaniel Clyne, James Milner and Daniel Sturridge.
The week after the Huddersfield fixture, the Reds' opponents will take a step up in class as they fly out to California, training at Stanford University as they gear up to take on Chelsea and AC Milan at the Rose Bowl and Levi's Stadium in Pasadena and Santa Clara respectively.
With no more friendlies yet in the pipeline, Liverpool will see out their pre-season programme with a showpiece clash with La Liga giants Barcelona at Wembley Stadium with Javier Mascherano and Luis Suarez both in line to face their former club for the first time on August 6.
Klopp and co.'s schedule marks a dramatically different approach to recent seasons, where they have embarked on tours of the USA or the Far East, where they played four games across 10 days last term.
The 2016-17 Barclays Premier League starts just a week later on August 13, although Liverpool are likely to play away from home in the first few weeks as they wait for the renovation of the Main Stand to be completed, adding an extra 8,500 seats to Anfield's overall capacity.
Liverpool's full pre-season schedule so far:
Fri July 8: Tranmere Rovers v Liverpool – Prenton Park. 7pm BST.
Wed July 13: Fleetwood Town v Liverpool - Highbury Stadium. 7pm BST.
Sun July 17: Wigan Athletic v Liverpool – DW Stadium. 4pm BST.
Wed July 20: Huddersfield Town v Liverpool – John Smith’s Stadium. 7.45pm BST.
Wed July 27: Liverpool v Chelsea – Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California. 4.30am BST, July 28.
Sat July 30: Liverpool v AC Milan – Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California. 3am BST, July 31.
Sat August 6: Liverpool v FC Barcelona – Wembley. 5pm BST.