While a winter World Cup is entirely uncharted territory for football, Liverpool are at least preparing to tread a familiar path next week.
The Reds will fly out to Dubai next weekend as part of a two-week long stay in the region where they will supplement their work on the training pitches with friendlies against Lyon and AC Milan as part of the 'Dubai Super Cup'.
While the likes of Everton and Celtic have flown straight to Australia as part of their mid-season preparations, Klopp has given his squad a couple of weeks off before they link up again ahead of the 3500-mile trip.
That, crucially, has enabled the squad to enjoy the sort of down-time usually reserved only for the summer months. Roberto Firmino and Joe Gomez have been able to jet out to the Maldives with their respective families, while Thiago Alcantara took in an LA Lakers basketball game in Los Angeles earlier this week after some string-pulling from the iconic LeBron James.
READ MORE: Kylian Mbappe just proved Liverpool may have dangerous new attacking plan
READ MORE: Inside story of Liverpool £1m starlet's latest transfer as Robbie Savage dealt unwanted blow
The hope is that such a break will refreshen both minds and bodies ahead of what has been likened to a pre-season training trip out in the Middle East next month. An injury-hit squad have battled through the opening three months of the campaign to mixed results, but this planned visit provides Klopp and his staff with several benefits.
It will be the second time Liverpool have flown to there under Klopp, having jetted out fresh from beating Everton in an FA Cup tie in January 2018. That particular trip was more about resting and refreshing, however, after a particularly draining period between early December and January.
“I think it was right, and to be honest the German (winter) break this year was not really long," Klopp said at the time. "They had, I think, seven, eight, nine days maybe – but then they have kind of a pre-season, and that makes the difference.
“Now we have our pre-season. We have two weeks with six or seven training sessions, which is very important. We can remind ourselves and give information for different games – with City it was really important that we could train before the game, and now we can prepare for Swansea, which is important.
“I was pleased to give the boys these few days. You learn about England pretty quickly. With the FA Cup at weekends, you have to look and think ‘where can we cut the time?’ to give weekends off? If you are involved, you have to play, if you are not then you have the weekend off, right?"
Not since 2006 have Liverpool have such a low representation at the World Cup. Only seven of the squad are in Qatar for their nations with England duo of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson joined by Brazil pair Alisson Becker and Fabinho alongside Ibrahima Konate of France, Uruguay's Darwin Nunez and Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk.
Liverpool chose the UAE for a handful of reasons. The Reds were hugely impressed by the level of facilities on offer back in 2018, but the logistics of where the World Cup is being held is the major deciding factor. The club's general manager of first-team operations, Ray Haughan, explored the merits of two venues last year before a setting in South Africa was eschewed in favour of the chosen complex.
With a flight from Doha, where the World Cup is being held, lasting just over an hour, it made more sense for the club to move to a base in the Middle East, to save from further long-haul flights for those in Qatar.
With the friendlies against Lyon and Milan coming on December 11 and 16, Klopp could feasibly have all of his squad available to him for those games, depending on the respective travails of Uruguay, Netherlands, England, France and Brazil. The Reds meet Lyon two days before the semi-finals and nine days after the groups end.
Game-time during those meetings in the Super Cup will be carefully managed, but given the tight turnaround, Klopp's World Cup contingent will not be afforded any time off.
"We will report in Dubai with a fresh and hungry mind to prepare for the second half of the season," assistant manager Pep Lijnders told Liverpoolfc.com last week. "We still have our same target: create special games and memories together.
"There is still a lot to play for. We know we weren’t good enough [so far this season] but one thing will not happen, we will not stop nor give up. In all layers of society, it’s in these times people get separated: the ones who make one step forward and the ones who make one step back.
"The AXA Training Centre is full of people who make a step forward, the ones who take responsibility and not the ones who shield behind the others. [The trip is] about togetherness, off-the-pitch professionalism, creation of team spirit, a staff who work very efficiently towards one target and above everything, real time to train. Real time for dedicated and specific team training. It’s time to create a base for the second half of the season to recover our pride.
"Sometimes you need to lose something to realise what it took to have it. Hard work and dedication brought the cups to us, without it we are nothing special. I have to give Ray and Louise [Dobson] a big compliment for how they always make sure we can prepare in the best conditions possible.
"These two breathe high performance on the elite level and honestly this isn’t easy: no excuses and always searching for the next step. For example, they started the process of the Dubai training camp 18 months ago to ensure we got the best elite facility possible, before any other team."
Liverpool insiders have previously spoken about how the month-long period in Austria and France before the start of last season helped hugely for what awaited them. A 63-game campaign where the Reds won both domestic cups, posted 92 Premier League points and were beaten in the Champions League final saw its foundations laid during that often arduous period in the summer of 2021. And while this jaunt to is only half as long, it is hoped similar training conditions can underpin a strong second half of the campaign as Klopp's charges attempt to surge up the table before European action returns against Real Madrid in February.
The format of the Super Cup is something of a curious one. There will be four fixtures in total, with each team playing twice, although the Reds will not meet Premier League leaders Arsenal. As standard, teams will be awarded three points for a win and, in a peculiar twist on a classic, two for a draw.
A penalty shootout will take place after each game, regardless of the result, with an additional point awarded to the winners. Given Liverpool's recent history with spot-kicks - they have won their last four shootouts - Klopp will be fully confident of adding to points haul from 12 yards.
It may not be the most prestigious honour available to the German during his time on Merseyside, but victory will at least suggest his side are in fine fettle before the serious business returns at Manchester City on December 22 in the Carabao Cup.
It promises to be a particularly important time for three players in Klopp 's squad as Luis Diaz, Naby Keita and Joel Matip all look to the Dubai trip to build up their fitness ahead of a vitally important second half of the season. Diaz is expected to feature at some stage if his recovery plan continues without a hitch, while Klopp has previously spoken about the 'mini-pre-season' for Keita.
With Keita into the final months of his deal at Anfield, a strong showing in the coming weeks will be hugely important to act as a springboard towards a more productive campaign given he has yet to play a minute of football since the Community Shield. And for Matip, it also offers a chance to re-stake his own claims after Konate's impressive return to action, particularly at Tottenham.
Typically, Klopp is not the biggest lover of the long-haul trips during the summer months. There is an acceptance from the manager that such ventures are a necessity for a club the size of the one he manages but he is much more in his element whipping his squad into shape on the 'European leg' of the pre-season tour when the commercial activities take a firm back seat in favour of the fitness building.
This time, though, all the talk around the visit to Dubai is pointing to it being viewed as something more akin to previous visits to the likes of Evian and Saalfelden as opposed to the financially driven excursions to the United States or Thailand, which, while lucrative for the club, are not always the most useful to a coach.
It was telling that last summer's visit to Thailand saw the club fly out with a host of former players to handle the bulk of the itinerary away from the training pitches. It remains to be seen what, if any, off-the-field events Liverpool have lined up but it could be a case of a number of famous faces from the past stepping in to effectively shield the current first-team stars from the long hours of commercial activities. The legendary John Barnes's recent announcement as a new club ambassador could be timely in that respect.
In a season like no other, how much Liverpool can extract from this mid-season break could yet be defining.
READ NEXT
- Liverpool sent transfer message by Spain as potential shock Roberto Firmino replacement emerges
Luis Diaz impact is clear at Liverpool but Diogo Jota absence unexplainable
Ridiculous rumour emerges over Liverpool and Cristiano Ronaldo in Spanish media
Liverpool 'could do Juventus deal' as Kostas Tsimikas 'exchange' rumour emerges
Pep Guardiola explains Man City contract decision after suffering Liverpool setback
