Jurgen Klopp believes Manchester City’s smoother pre-season means they have an advantage over Liverpool going into next weekend’s Community Shield.
But the Reds boss has promised that his team will be a different prospect on Sunday after failing to win any of their last four friendly outings.
Preparations for the new campaign have not been helped by the absence of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Alisson Becker due to their participation in international tournaments.
Injuries to Xherdan Shaqiri and Naby Keita have also limited Klopp’s options during the recent tour of the United States.
However, the German is looking forward to getting the bulk of his squad back together during a training camp in France this week, where he hopes to lay the foundations for a better performance at Wembley on Sunday.
He said: “I think apart from [Sergio] Aguero, pretty much all in [for pre-season], so it means a different situation.
“[They] were good last year, will be good this year, it’s the most difficult game to play during a season.
“We didn’t defend counter-attacks too well [against Napoli], we lost the ball in the wrong moments, weren’t protected.
“If that would happen against Manchester City, you don’t have a chance. But we know each other good enough and long enough now that we know it will be different next Sunday.
“For this we have to talk a few talks and we need a few training sessions for sure. It’s not about intensity anymore, we had to do intense sessions in the first three weeks. When do we want to do it if not now?
“Then we played the games in difficult circumstances in America, now we are here.
“Going to Evian, it was always clear it would be the most important week of the pre-season, then after City we have another five days to prepare Norwich which is exactly as important as the City game, then Chelsea.
“It’s a different start to other seasons but it’s our starts, so we take it, all good.”
Klopp did, however, stop short of offering guarantees that the likes of Salah, Firmino and Alisson would be ready to feature against Manchester City.
He added: “I don’t know. It would maybe make sense that I see them first.
“We cannot risk players, we have to see who we can line-up and who will train and who will play.
“But of course we have to make sure that we have a line-up that gives us an opportunity to win the game and that’s what we try.”
