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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Theo Squires

James Milner hoping to avoid painful memories of Liverpool's last pre-season meeting with Napoli

Liverpool fans are growing accustomed to the Reds facing Napoli.

Jurgen Klopp 's side will lock horns with the Serie A outfit for the fourth time in 12 months on Sunday when they face off at Murrayfield.

The European champions twice took on the Italian side in the  Champions League  group-stages last season, losing in Naples before winning at Anfield to progress at Carlo Ancelotti's side's expense.

Meanwhile, they also ran out 5-0 winners when then two sides met last summer in pre-season at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Liverpool vice-captain James Milner opened the scoring for Klopp's side that day and he's hoping for a repeat performance ahead of the game.

Well, at least part of it.

Liverpool's James Milner receives medical attention after a collision with Napoli's Mario Rui (Niall Carson/PA Wire)

The midfielder was forced off in the second half with a head injury following a collision with Mario Rui which left him requiring 15 stiches.

"He's quite positive because he's not been given a mirror yet," Klopp joked at the time. "I knew that he would get stitches because we saw it on the pitch.

"He's in the dressing room so I have to see him first before I can say more. That's obviously the big shadow over that game."

Milner missed Liverpool's final pre-season friendly against Torino last summer as a result, before captaining Liverpool wearing a protective bandage against West Ham United on the opening day of the season.

And taking to Twitter ahead of the Reds' latest clash with Napoli, the midfielder joked about the painful incident.

"Hoping for the same result as last year," he wrote. "But without the stitches this time."

https://twitter.com/JamesMilner/status/1155439194329759747

With a 'Face with Head-Bandage' emoji accompanying the tweet, he took a playful aim at team-mate Andy Robertson , posting '#MatchForRobbo', in honour for the full-back representing Liverpool in his native Scotland for the first time.

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