Programme notesAndoni Iraola: I want us to all enjoy this journey together

Having returned to the AXA Training Centre this week after their tour of the USA, the Reds squad play a fourth pre-season friendly on Sunday.

It will be their first on home soil this summer – with AS Monaco the visitors – and a first for Iraola in L4 since he became head coach.

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“I hope you all enjoyed a good summer break, and I hope you are all looking forward to Sunday’s game as much as we are,” the boss writes in the matchday programme.

“This fixture, plus the games we have scheduled next week against Como, will be hugely beneficial for us as we start to look ahead to our first Premier League game, up at Newcastle, in a few weeks’ time.

“Our tour of the USA was a positive one, and also a really important introduction to the club for me and my staff.

“It was great to see the supporters in Chicago, in Nashville and in New York – a reminder of the size and appeal of the club, for sure – and we were able to get a lot of really good work in on the training pitch, which will benefit us a lot as the season progresses.

“Now we are home, it is time to step up our preparations further and continue the hard work we put in over in America.

“We now have virtually our entire squad together, which of course will be very important in the coming days and weeks. Victor Munoz, our new signing, joined us at AXA this week having been part of the Spain squad which won the FIFA World Cup last month, as did Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Alisson Becker.

“Alexis Mac Allister, the last of our World Cup players, will link up with us on Monday, also.

“Sunday is, of course, going to be a very proud day for my staff, and for me, as we take charge of our first home game.

“I have experienced Anfield before from the other side, and that was pretty special (even if the results didn’t go the way I would have liked!) but I know that it will be a completely different feeling as the head coach of Liverpool, and that is something I am really excited for.

“I spoke when I first arrived at the club about emotion, about the connection between the players, the staff and the supporters. That is extremely important and will be even more so going forward.

“We want to give you guys a team you can really identify with and be proud of, and we will be doing everything we can, every day, to make that happen.

“Sunday, therefore, is an important step on that journey. It is a journey I want us to all enjoy together, and which I hope and believe will lead to success and to many happy and memorable moments in the future.”

• Pick up a copy of the matchday programme at Anfield on Sunday