Liverpool FC Pre-Season Plans 2025 | OneFootball

In some ways, Liverpool’s pre-season began the second that they defeated Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 at Anfield and secured the club’s 20th top-flight league title. The Reds have literally been on the beach since, flying back every now and then to fulfil their fixtures before heading back out on holiday again.

It is a great chance to get some rest and recuperation into the legs of players who barely ever get a break from the relentlessness of the football calendar, with even head coach Arne Slot being seen partying away instead of focusing on the dead rubber games that Liverpool had left.

The question is, what will the actual pre-season look like for the Reds this summer?

Heading Back to Asia

At the end of March, Liverpool confirmed that the club would be heading back to Asia for the club’s pre-season preparations. Given the fact that the club’s official airline partner is Japan Airlines, it is perhaps not all that surprising that the Reds will be going to Japan for the first ever summer visit. The last time that Liverpool went to Asia for pre-season was in the summer of 2023, playing in Singapore prior to a season in which they came close to winning the quadruple. Many will be hoping that that is a good omen and that Arne Slot can take things one step further this time.

They will begin by playing a game in Hong Kong, with the match against AC Milan on the 26th of July being the first football fixture played in the Kai Tak Stadium. The two teams will go up for the right to claim the Standard Chartered Trophy. It represents the first time that Liverpool will have played in Hong Kong since the summer of 2017, whilst the match against AC Milan will represent something of a fun repeat of the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ that saw the Reds win their fifth European Cup 20 years ago. The club will also use the opportunity to take part in numerous local community projects whilst in Asia.

A Chance for a ‘Proper’ Pre-Season

It is fair to say that Liverpool’s pre-season ahead of the current campaign wasn’t ideal. The nature of the summer tournament in 2024 meant that some of the players returned to training just a week or so before our first game of the season against Ipswich Town. It meant that Arne Slot barely even got to meet some of his players properly, let alone explain to them his methods and what he was expecting from them. That is something that should excite Liverpool supporters, given the fact that we won the title when the manager was getting his ideas across on a week-by-week basis.

There will be a training camp, as well as plenty of time for Slot to explain precisely how he wants the team to play in the 2025-2026 season. There is no major international tournament this summer, with only the FIFA Club World Cup taking place and Liverpool not involved in it. Matches against teams like Yokohama F. Marinos of the J1 League will present the head coach with the opportunity to see how his new-look team works together, considering some are expecting as many as five signings in the summer. Only Trent Alexander-Arnold will be leaving Anfield, who the manager will likely have wanted to keep around.

Squad Unity Will Be Important

It seems as though it is just a matter of days until Liverpool officially confirm the signing of Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen, whilst the rumour mill is suggestive of the likelihood of Milos Kerkez being brought in from Richard Hughes’ old club Bournemouth to strengthen our left-back position. News has recently emerged of interest in Florian Wirtz, who looks certain to also leave Bayer Leverkusen this summer, albeit with Bayern Munich his more likely destination. There is also a desire to bring in at least one centre-back and another Bournemouth player, in Dean Huijsen, is on the list.

Add in the fact that the Reds will also make changes to the attacking line-up, with Darwin Núñez almost certain to depart and both Federico Chiesa and Diogo Jota also not really seeming to be part of Slot’s plans, and you can see why it is that the feeling around Anfield is that this could be a huge summer for Liverpool. If they manage to get things right on a transfer front and the Dutch head coach judges his pre-season plans correctly, it could be another summer of celebrations for the Reds at the end of the 2025-2026 campaign. In the meantime, everyone will just keep the title-winning party going.