Liverpool‘s pre-season has gone pretty much to plan but we have played just one game so far, a 7-0 win over Chester. However, we still do not have some of our non-World Cup players starring for us in complete training sessions.

The Dutch pair of Georginio Wijnaldum and Virgil van Dijk did return to Melwood and were subjected to a lot of tests as they look to get back to full fitness ahead of the season.

The reason why the pair did not take part in the first training sessions is that the Netherlands took part in a friendly after the end of the season.

Wijnaldum was one of the more consistent performers for us last season but the star of the second half of the season, apart from Mohamed Salah, had to be Van Dijk.

The Dutch defender was a stalwart at the back for us since his move from Southampton and he did help us to a top-4 finish and a Champions League final too.

The pair will be hoping for a better campaign this time around as we look to pick up a trophy or two and it will be interesting to see if Jurgen Klopp plays the pair in our next pre-season friendly, which is against Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday.

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We could end up winning the next game by a similar margin if the pair plays and with the season coming fast towards us, every minute of pre-season and training will be crucial in our hopes of starting the season on fire.