Seven senior Liverpool players are set to play in friendly vs Preston today

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Liverpool quietly kick off the Arne Slot era on Friday with a friendly behind closed doors.

The Reds only have four scheduled pre-season games on the calendar, leaving Slot with not a lot of scope to run the rule over his new team.

As well as having little opportunity to hone his tactical ideas, the new head coach is also set to be missing plenty of the Liverpool squad for the upcoming tour of the USA.

With three of the Reds’ four fixtures scheduled for while they’re in the States, that does not leave a lot of time for Slot and his coaching team to implement their ideas.

As a result, Liverpool have scheduled a not for public consumption game against Preston at the AXA Training Centre.

Arne Slot set to lead Liverpool for the first time

Friday is a big day for Slot. Of course it will not be the same as leading the Reds out in front of a packed Anfield or some other away ground.

But it will still be significant for the Dutchman as he stands on the touchline watching his Liverpool team for the very first time.

Owing to the summer international tournaments, Liverpool are of course incredibly light in terms of first-team players currently working with Slot.

However, according to The Athletic, the 45-year-old will still manage to cobble together a decent looking team.

READ MORE: At least nine players set to miss Liverpool’s tour of the United States

Some youngsters from the academy will have to supplement in three or four areas, but it’s claimed that Slot will have as many as seven first-teamers out on the pitch.

Caoimhin Kelleher, Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Sepp van den Berg and Kostas Tsimikas is likely to be the back five, with the quintet ‘expected’ to be involved.

Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott are also reportedly set to feature. That just leaves an extra midfielder and a forward line for Slot to dip into his youth ranks to select. He’s certainly got plenty of options.

Owing to them only returning for training on Tuesday, it’s claimed that neither Dominik Szoboszlai nor Andy Robertson will take part on Friday. No word is given on Mohamed Salah or Wataru Endo.

Who else could start for Liverpool?

Assuming that neither Salah or Endo are in a position to begin the game, it will be fascinating to see who Slot ends up going with.

There is a chance that his decision never becomes public knowledge. The outcome of these types of games are occasionally kept completely secret. But we can still speculate about who Slot will pick.

Assuming he’s going for one extra midfielder, we think the new boss may want to take a look at Tyler Morton, who could have a role in the first-team this season.

Up front, Kaide Gordon has caught Curtis Jones’ eye, so we think he might get a go, with Fabio Carvalho taking up one of the forwards spots, too.

Finally, Ben Doak has looked sharp in the training videos so far and he’d be one who Slot would be wise to give a run out to. Let’s wait for updates as the day progresses.