Preview: Greuther Furth vs. Liverpool
Concluding their pre-season stay in Germany, Liverpool face Greuther Furth in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Monday.
Jurgen Klopp’s side recently returned to action with a win against Karlsruher SC, and they continue to warm up for the 2023-24 campaign by meeting a team that finished mid-table in Germany’s second tier last term.
Kicking off their pre-season schedule on Wednesday evening, Liverpool shrugged off recent transfer-market turmoil to emerge with a 4-2 victory over 2. Bundesliga side Karlsruher, with a lineup featuring both youth and experience.
Long-serving captain Jordan Henderson was left out, as he closes in on a switch to Saudi Arabia – also a likely destination for his midfield colleague Fabinho – but Dominik Szoboszlai or Alexis Mac Allister both played their first minutes for the Merseyside club, perhaps ushering in a new era.
Aiming to improve on a streaky first season at Anfield, Darwin Nunez gave Liverpool a third-minute lead at BBBank Wildpark, before Cody Gakpo produced an equaliser midway through the second half, once the Reds had conceded either side of the break.
Diogo Jota then bagged a brace in stoppage time to complete the comeback, securing victory in the first fixture of a packed summertime schedule leading up to Liverpool’s Premier League return on August 13.
Between now and their competitive opener away to Chelsea, Jurgen Klopp’s men – who belatedly recovered from a sluggish start to win seven games on the bounce towards the end of last season – will also jet off to Singapore and then return to England early next month.
Set to face Leicester City and Bayern Munich in Southeast Asia, before a final friendly contest versus SV Darmstadt at Deepdale, the Reds are first pitted against opponents who were marooned in the middle of Germany’s second division at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.
Having previously endured a terrible time in the top flight, from which they were relegated after finishing rock-bottom with just 18 points, Greuther Furth’s hopes of a quick return last season soon came unstitched, and the Bavarian club ultimately finished 12th in the table.
Three times national champions in the early part of the 20th century, Furth have rarely been seen at Germany’s elite level since the advent of the Bundesliga, and they will be targeting just a third promotion to the competition’s top tier over the coming months.
As the Kleeblatter prepare for another attempt at achieving that feat, they have already played out three goal-laden friendly games since the start of the month; following a 5-2 win over Ansbach with a thrilling 4-4 draw against Gornik Zabzre, before losing 3-2 to FC Zurich.
Under the guidance of ex-Stuttgart coach Alexander Zorniger – who has also taken charge of Brondby and RB Leipzig during the past decade – they now tackle opponents of a much higher standing, albeit in a low-key behind-closed-doors encounter.
Greuther Furth form (all competitions):
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Liverpool friendly form:
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Liverpool form (all competitions):
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We say: Greuther Furth 1-3 Liverpool
While the primary aim is to boost match-fitness, Liverpool will expect another win from their second friendly fixture in Germany.
Given the wealth of talent available to them, they can easily overcome a modest Greuther Furth side who are facing a huge gulf in class and have proven defensively suspect in recent friendlies.