HKJ Helsinki vs. Liverpool – Team News – Coutinho makes first pre-season

A 16 man squad has flown to Finland for a friendly against Helsinki on Saturday, before a number of younger players- as well as those returning from injury lay-offs- take on Swindon Town at the County Ground, on Sunday.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has named a strong squad for Liverpool’s pre-season trip to Helsinki, including Philippe Coutinho.

Saturday’s game will also give the fans the opportunity to have a closer look on the new signings with Nathaniel Clyne, Joe Gomez, Danny Ings, Divock Origi and James Milner all set to travel.

Liverpool play their penultimate pre-season friendly when they take on Helsinki this afternoon, and for many of their first-team stars it is their final chance to impress before the competitive action kicks off next weekend.

However, the Northern Irishman will be dealt the blow of being without new signings and potentially key players Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino for this match, which puts their chances of being fully fit and match sharp for the opening day game at Stoke City into serious doubt.

With many questioning whether Liverpool will simply wind down as they reach the end of a lengthy pre-season schedule, defender Martin Skrtel has insisted that it will be quite the opposite.

“We’ve done our homework on our opponents, like we would if we were preparing for a Premier League game”, said the Reds boss.

After those three matches they then made their way to Malaysia and youngster Jordan Ibe was on target in a 1-1 draw against at Malaysia XI in Kuala Lumpur. “We want to go there so they can see us play”.