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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
James Pearce

Liverpool in talks over capital friendly as Anfield pitch won't be ready until August

Liverpool are in talks about playing a money-spinning pre-season friendly in London this summer.

Tottenham's new state-of-the-art stadium is one of a number of venues under consideration for the game in late July. Napoli are likely to provide the opposition.

The match would take place following the Reds' return from a pre-season tour of America. Discussions with Spurs about using their new ground are ongoing.

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Liverpool are searching for a suitable venue as the pitch at Anfield won't be ready until August.

The Reds are hosting three pop concerts this summer with Take That on June 6 followed by Bon Jovi on June 19 and Pink on June 25.

Around 12,000 people will be standing on the pitch for those events with lorries needing access to the turf in order to help erect the stages.

As a result the Anfield ground staff won't get to work relaying the playing surface until late June rather than mid-May.

The ECHO understands that Anfield could still host a friendly ahead of the 2019/20 campaign but not until August. That will depend to an extent on whether Liverpool are involved in the Community Shield at Wembley on August 4.

Jurgen Klopp's side played their final warm-up game at Anfield last year when they beat Torino on August 7.

Liverpool last played a friendly in the capital in 2016 when a crowd of 90,000 packed into Wembley to watch them beat Barcelona.

That was in the International Champions Cup but the Reds have decided to organise their pre-season plans independently this time around.

They will fly to America in mid-July and are expected to play games in Boston, New York and Indiana. Those dates, venues and opponents are set to be officially announced next week.

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