Liverpool scrap plans to play pre-season friendly at Tottenham’s stadium in July

Liverpool have scrapped plans to play a pre-season friendly at Tottenham’s stadium in July in light of the clubs facing each other in the Champions League final.

With Anfield set to host a number of music concerts in June, Liverpool’s home is not going to be ready to stage a match until August so the club had been in discussions with Tottenham to use their new base on July 28 – Napoli had been lined up as potential opponents.

But given what is at stake on Saturday in Madrid, it has been decided that it would not be appropriate for one of the beaten finalists to either go to the stadium for a fixture that was not involving their opponents.

As a result, Liverpool are now looking for another venue. They faced Carlo Ancelotti’s squad in Dublin last August at the Aviva Stadium and have regularly visited the Republic of Ireland but it now seems likely that Murrayfield in Edinburgh will be the most suitable option.

Liverpool have yet to rubberstamp opponents for that date but the calibre of opposition will be similar to Borussia Dortmund, Seville and Sporting Lisbon, the clubs they will face on a short tour of the United States. Those games will be held in Indiana, Boston and New York respectively.

The last time Liverpool played in the Scottish capital was seven years ago in a Europa League qualifier against Hearts.

The club had been in discussions with Tottenham to use their new base on July 28

Liverpool will face Manchester City in the Community Shield at Wembley on August 4 so to spare their supporters two trips to London in the space of eight days, Wembley will not be considered – nor will Twickenham, the home of English rugby.

The overriding factor to scrap the idea of playing at Tottenham, however, is down to the implications of the Champions League final. 

Liverpool head out to Madrid on Friday and are aiming to win the European Cup for a sixth time.