Liverpool resumed work at the AXA Training Centre on Wednesday, four days before the season begins, with a new face part of the session.
The Reds were given a break following the 3-1 win over Darmstadt that rounded off their schedule of friendlies, but were back in Kirkby for midweek.
With a trip to Chelsea to come to begin the Premier League campaign, it was a mixed session for the squad in the summer sun.
The majority of Jurgen Klopp‘s squad was comprised of those involved throughout pre-season, but joining the first team was youngster Luke Chambers.
Chambers had been absent throughout pre-season for both the senior squad and the under-21s, amid loan interest from Watford and Bayer Leverkusen.
But the versatile defender was pictured warming up alongside the likes of Kostas Tsimikas and Bobby Clark on Wednesday.
Also part of the squad were Thiago and Stefan Bajcetic, who are closing in on full fitness following long-term injuries.
The 10 outfield players who started against Darmstadt were in second-day recovery, which saw games of head tennis away from the rest of the group.
Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota have all avoided injury and are likely to start on Sunday.
There was another positive in the involvement of Curtis Jones, who went into the win over Darmstadt with a knock but appears to have shaken that off.
Among the youngsters retained from trips to Germany, Singapore and Preston throughout pre-season were Clark, Ben Doak, Jarell Quansah, James McConnell and Calum Scanlon.
Vitezslav Jaros and Marcelo Pitaluga, who were both cut from the Singapore tour and instead played a half each in the U21s’ 5-0 win over Hull on Friday, rejoined the goalkeeping ranks.
The hope is that there are no new injury concerns with days to go until head to Stamford Bridge, though there was no sign of Darwin Nunez.
It should be stressed, however, that the Uruguayan may simply have been away from the group briefly or following an individual programme elsewhere.
Conor Bradley, who has not been part of the squad since the training camp in Germany due to a minor injury, remains out.
Liverpool squad pictured in training on Wednesday
Goalkeepers: Alisson, Kelleher, Adrian, Jaros, Pitaluga
Defenders: Van Dijk, Konate, Matip, Gomez, Quansah, Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Tsimikas, Chambers, Scanlon
Midfielders: Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Thiago, Jones, Elliott, Bajcetic, Clark, McConnell
(Images) Liverpool fans will surely be concerned by Anfield Road Stand pictures which have emerged
It’s not just the absence of incoming transfer business since early July which’ll concern Liverpool fans heading into the new season.
In an ideal world, Anfield would’ve been rocking to the noise from 61,000 fans for its first match of the campaign against Bournemouth in 10 days’ time. Instead, the venue will operate at a reduced capacity due to the ongoing redevelopment of the Anfield Road Stand.
The contractors had recently indicated that it’ll be October before the works are fully completed (The Athletic), and judging by photos which have emerged online over the past 24 hours, it’s hard to see the project being finalised before then.
Anything Liverpool on Twitter/X shared posted images showing the latest progress on the redevelopment, with most of the upper tier still to have its seats installed and some of the interior underneath the stand looking worryingly bare.
The Premier League games against Bournemouth, Aston Villa and West Ham are bound to take place with a reduced capacity, while the first home match in the Europa League (to be held on either 21 September or 5 October) also looks set to have less than the final 61,000 figure.
It’s far from an ideal scenario, even if safety must be the priority before the Anfield Road Stand is fully operational.
Latest pictures from inside Anfield 🚧
Not the progress we expected. pic.twitter.com/RdrEbR5HRy— Anything Liverpool (@AnythingLFC_) August 8, 2023