Premier League champions face FA Cup holders Palace at Wembley on Sunday
Liverpool manager Arne Slot says his side are eager to open the new campaign with silverware as they prepare to face Crystal Palace in the FA Community Shield on Sunday.
The Premier League champions, who lifted a record-equalling 20th title last season, will meet FA Cup holders Palace at Wembley. Victory would give Liverpool a 17th Community Shield, their first since 2022.
“It’s nice if you can start the season by winning something,” said Slot. “We have a chance at the beginning of the season. We face a difficult Crystal Palace side.
“They have shown how hard it is to win a one-off game with them – counter-attacks, set-pieces, long-balls to (Palace striker Jean-Philippe) Mateta and individual quality of their forwards.”
Liverpool’s pre-season preparations included matches against Athletic Bilbao, AC Milan and Yokohama F. Marinos, which Slot believes provided valuable competition ahead of the Wembley meeting.
Their last appearance in the national stadium ended in a 2-1 loss to Newcastle but Slot isn’t fixated on that.
“Not looking back because it’s a different system Newcastle played,” said Slot. But the way they played might be similar to how Palace play. They used every freekick to get the ball in our box.
“Palace are a threat at set-pieces. There are maybe a few overlaps between the two sides.”
