Joel Matip Ibrahima Konate Harvey ElliottGoal/Getty

Konate's debut, Matip's return and Elliott's progress: What to expect from Liverpool's first pre-season friendly matches

Two games, two different opponents, plenty of chances to impress.

Liverpool return to action on Tuesday night. It has been 58 days since the Reds ended last season, and the mood around Anfield is a positive one, as preparations for the new campaign continue.

Jurgen Klopp’s side are a week into their pre-season programme, and they will step things up with a series of friendly fixtures this week.

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They will start this evening with two 30-minute mini-games, one after another, against Austrian Second Division side FC Wacker Innsbruck and Bundesliga outfit VfB Stuttgart.

A light workout, but a valuable one after eight days of intensive training at the club’s camp in Salzburg.

Here is what to look out for when the Reds take to the field…

Konate’s debut

Klopp has already confirmed that Ibrahima Konate, Liverpool’s new £36 million ($49m) signing from RB Leipzig, will make his first Reds appearance on Tuesday.

“It’s important that he gets minutes quickly,” the manager said. “That’s what pre-season is for.”

Liverpool’s problems in defence last season were well documented, but they have eight centre-backs in their 34-man squad in Austria. Konate, at 22, is seen very much as a player for the here and now as well as the future, and Klopp would love to see him hit the ground running in pre-season.

“All the people from outside will say there are similarities between Leipzig and us,” Klopp said. "That is true, but there are differences as well.

"The similarities are important but the differences are more important because you see that in training. There are some little habits where he is doing [things] different to what we usually do, so we work on that. All fine, completely normal. 

Ibrahima Konate RB Leipzig 2020-21Getty Images

“The first few days are there to realise ‘what is the boy doing when he is not thinking?’ So, natural stuff. And then from there we start and that’s why he has to play and that’s what will happen.”

With less than four weeks until the start of the new Premier League season, and with Liverpool’s other senior centre-backs all coming back from long-term injury, the chance is there for Konate to show Klopp he can start immediately. These games will be crucial for the Frenchman in that regard.

The returning stars

After months of injury misery, the news has been a little more positive on that front of late.

The sight of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez training with the rest of the squad will have brought a huge smile to Klopp’s face. Both have been missing since last autumn due to knee problems, while Joel Matip has not featured since the end of January due to an ankle issue.

Matip should feature on Tuesday, as should Trent Alexander-Arnold, who missed Euro 2020 due to a thigh injury. 

Van Dijk and Gomez, meanwhile, may need to wait a few days longer, with Liverpool keen to be as careful as possible after so long out. 

“That’s the thing, these boys are not injured anymore, they are just not at 100 per cent yet,” Klopp said last week.

“Both have done parts of our normal training and then they have to do extra parts. They are getting closer and closer, that’s the impression we have.

“What they did in training so far worked really well and we will see when we can involve them in complete normal training – I don’t know that and I don’t rush it either.

"It makes no sense, we waited so long and now we can wait a few days longer, that’s no problem.”

Virgil Van Dijk Joe Gomez Liverpool 2018-19Getty

The young pretenders

As well as his senior stars - including Mo Salah and Sadio Mane - Klopp’s Austrian squad has been supplemented by the presence of a host of talented younger players, many of whom will get the chance to shine in this week’s matches.

The most exciting is Harvey Elliott, back from a productive loan spell at Blackburn Rovers and buoyed by a new five-year contract.

The 18-year-old is very much the jewel in the crown, as far as the Reds’ next generation is concerned, and it will be interesting to see just how much he learned in the Championship last season.

Beyond that, look out for exciting Polish attacker Mateusz Musialowski, who signed his first professional contract last week after an excellent first season with the U18s, and for 16-year-old wide player Kaide Gordon, who has already won a lot of admiers since signing from Derby County in January.

Home-grown midfielder Tyler Morton is another to keep an eye on, while Billy Koumetio is viewed as a centre-back of considerable potential and has already featured for the first team in the Champions League.

Full-backs Owen Beck and Conor Bradley, already a full international with Northern Ireland, should also get minutes, as will midfield duo Leighton Clarkson and Jake Cain.

Mateusz Musialowski Liverpool 2020-21Getty Images

The shop window

Of course Liverpool’s squad will be trimmed significantly before the transfer window closes next month.

Several of Klopp’s squad in Austria will be expecting to move on, and Liverpool may well use these forthcoming fixtures as a shop window for any potential suitors, either loan or permanent.

Divock Origi faces an uncertain summer, though much will depend on what kind of offers are received for the Belgian striker. The same goes for Takumi Minamino, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Southampton.

Nat Phillips emerged as one of the surprise stars of the last campaign, but Liverpool would sell at the right price (around £12m), while others such as Loris Karius and Ben Woodburn look certain to leave in search of regular football.

Marco Grujic and Taiwo Awoniyi, who have been with Klopp's squad in Austria, will not feature after agreeing permanent moves to Porto and Union Berlin, respectively.

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