The balls were out on day two of pre-season training at the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday as Liverpool welcomed back a flutter of returning faces.
The first load of Reds had returned on Monday as they underwent physical tests under the watchful eye of the club’s medical staff in the gym. But with Jurgen Klopp reporting back for duty on Tuesday, Liverpool stepped up their preparations.
With returning faces, new squad numbers and a number of youth players all on display in Kirkby, here’s what we spotted from the Reds’ latest training session.
READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo could make Sadio Mane regret Liverpool exit
READ MORE: Throwing up and beating James Milner - inside the 'terrible day one' of Liverpool training
Bobby’s back!
Although included in the 19-man squad list to report for pre-season training on Monday, which was released at the weekend, Roberto Firmino was missing on day one at the AXA Training Centre. However, he reported back for duty on Tuesday as Liverpool undertook their first ballwork of the season.
Meanwhile, with Klopp also back and overseeing proceedings, Rhys Williams and Sepp van den Berg were also involved, having been missing on Monday, but there was still no sign of Thiago Alcantara, Ibrahima Konate and Neco Williams with the trio expected to return later in the week.
Elsewhere, having been pictured on Monday, Kaide Gordon was also missing from the latest pictures released by the club. Having missed the end of last season through injury, his absence from ball-work suggests he is still undergoing rehabilitation.
Pep Lijnders gets his wish
Back in January, assistant manager Pep Lijnders name dropped Luke Chambers, Stefan Bajcetic and Bobby Clark as three players who had caught his eye in a recent FA Youth Cup clash, and who he hoped would be involved with the first team’s pre-season.
Well the Dutchman got his wish on Tuesday as the trio were all involved with the rest of Klopp’s senior ranks. However, they weren’t the only youngsters involved, as Klopp takes a closer look at the next generation of Reds talent.
Kids galore
Along with the aforementioned trio, Melkamu Frauendorf and James Norris were involved in training on Tuesday, having featured for Klopp’s senior side in the FA Cup last season. Meanwhile, Harvey Davies, Isaac Mabaya, Fabian Mrozek and Thomas Hill also took part in training, with the latter making the step-up having returned from an ACL injury.
And while not named on the 19-man senior squad list released over the weekend, Leighton Clarkson, Tyler Morton and Owen Beck were also present for the latest training sessions, having stepped up to the senior set-up, both for pre-season and during the campaign, over the past two seasons.
New shirt numbers
Harvey Elliott was confirmed to have traded his number 67 shirt for 19 over the weekend, with the England Under-21s international donning his new number proudly in training so far. However, he isn’t the only Liverpool starlet who have been handed a new number if the players’ training kits are anything to go by.
Having previously worn number 72, Van den Berg was wearing number 39 in training, while Morton appears to have swapped 80 for 43. Clarkson was allocated number 65 when he first broke through into the first team, but was now wearing 38, while Frauendorf, having worn 94 last season, was pictured donning the number 58.
READ NEXT
-
Fabio Carvalho shows Liverpool ready to skip step in transfer market
-
Cristiano Ronaldo 'mistake' led Manchester United to 'leave Liverpool' to £85m signing
- Gini Wijnaldum 'dream transfer' from PSG lined up one year after Liverpool exit
-
Gary Neville's latest Liverpool dig has already backfired thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo
-
Raheem Sterling may have shown Liverpool the truth about Mohamed Salah's contract
