Stoke start ideal for Reds to make amends: Henderson

The Telegraph claims that Brendan Rodgers has been impressed by the teenager and will allow him to start away at Stoke on the opening day of the new season.

Skrtel has admitted that the heavy defeat was embarrassing but is confident that the club are better positioned to get a positive result this time round.

He said the game still lives long in the memory of those involved, insisting it was a “horrible day” but that the Reds are determine to better themselves this time out and improve as a team. What happened there last year will only make us stronger.

The Northern Irishman was hailed as one of the country’s most exciting young managers after nearly delivering the title to Liverpool in 2014, with a team built on attacking, free flowing football.

The 24-year-old striker was a key element of Aston Villa’s side as they battled for Premiership survival last season, a feat they achieved in no small part thanks to Benteke’s 13 goals for the club.

The 23 year-old is likely to be at the heart of Liverpool’s best moments as his influence on the team grows further bolstered by the arrival of his countryman Firmino. “We know what happened in May but this is a new season, we have got new players and we will go there with a lot of belief that we can get a good result”.

He told the ECHO: “I just have to keep working hard to get in the team”.

Liverpool’s new captain is relishing an early opportunity to move forward from a harrowing defeat that ended last season. We have got to put it to bed. But the England worldwide is sure that he won’t need to motivate the players who were there that day.

He believes his side are well prepared, because of their togetherness, their fitness levels and the fact that they are “easy mentally”.

The Reds won five of their six pre-season fixtures, with Henderson saying the “great quality” inside the team have performed well. “We know what happened in May but this is a new season”.

“You can not do anything about who you are given to play in the first game”.