Liverpool Abandon Schalke Friendly Following Fixture List Announcement

Liverpool had planned to make their final game ahead of the 2019-20 season an Anfield friendly against Schalke on Tuesday, August 6th. However, with the Premier League fixture list released and the Reds opening the season on Friday the 9th, that game has now been cancelled.

The two clubs say that the match, which would have seen Jürgen Klopp facing off against friend and former Huddersfield manager David Wagner on the Schalke touchline, will be now played ahead of the 2020-21 season—though a lot can change over the course of a year.

For now, what we do know is that Liverpool’s final game before the season kicks off will be the Community Shield against Manchester City at Wembley on Sunday, August 4th—and that the Super Cup against Chelsea in Istanbul will take place after the season starts, on August 14th.

Realistically, with Liverpool’s two August cup commitments, their pre-season preparations were looking especially congested this season, with phases set to take place in England, the United States, and France before the team returned to England for that final game against Schalke.

Abandoning the Schalke match, at least until next year’s pre-season, should make things a little more manageable—especially towards the end of pre-season when Klopp looks to focus in on the players who will be in his first team squad for the coming season.