Liverpool vs Hertha Berlin Club Friendly LIVE Football Score 29 Jul 2021

Hertha Berlin and Liverpool will both endeavour to maintain their unbeaten starts to pre-season when they lock horns at the Tivoli Stadion Tirol in Austria on Thursday evening.

The Bundesliga outfit played out a 1-1 draw with VfB Lubeck during their fifth encounter of the summer last time out, while Liverpool secured their first pre-season win with a 1-0 success over Mainz 05.

Hertha Berlin set the bar at an unreachable height during their opening games of pre-season – a 16-0 thrashing of Schwarz-Rot Neustadt followed by a 7-0 win against MSV Neuruppin – and Pal Dardai’s side have since registered a trio of stalemates versus fellow German outfits.

After playing out 4-4 and 2-2 draws with Hannover 96 and FC St Pauli respectively, Hertha Berlin took to the Olympiapark Hanns Braun turf to face VfB Lubeck on July 21, where Suat Serdar’s opener was cancelled out by Elsamed Ramaj as traffic jams forced a later kickoff than intended.

Dardai’s men were due to board a plane for Hungary to face Europa League winners Villarreal earlier this week, but Unai Emery’s side recorded positive coronavirus cases and were forced to cancel the encounter, meaning that Liverpool will provide the first continental test of the summer for Hertha.

Die Alte Dame have been far from goal-shy during the month of July – racking up a staggering 30 goals from their five pre-season matches, an average of six per game – and one final battle with Gaziantep awaits before a DFB-Pokal tie with SV Meppen takes precedence.

It would be folly to expect Hertha’s in-form attackers to experience the same joy in front of goal against Liverpool, who have been handed two major boosts on the defensive front before their second game of pre-season.

Jurgen Klopp’s defensive crises last term were well-documented, but Thursday could mark the first time since October 2020 that Virgil van Dijk steps foot onto the field, and his fellow centre-back Joe Gomez is also nearing a return to action as optimism continues to grow.

The Reds did not need either man to help them record a shut-out during their most recent encounter, though, as Luca Kilian’s own goal in the 86th minute of the contest saw Klopp’s side secure a 1-0 win over Mainz 05 after two different Liverpool sides played out 1-1 draws with Stuttgart and Wacker Innsbruck.

With very little happening off the pitch in terms of incomings at the club – although they have waved goodbye to a rather hefty contingent of fringe players – Klopp will only be focused on ending his side’s Austrian stint on a high note before Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna pay a trip to Merseyside next month.

While the two sides have never locked horns competitively, Liverpool eased to a 3-0 success over Hertha Berlin in a friendly four years ago, with Dominic Solanke, Georginio Wijnaldum and Mohamed Salah on the scoresheet.

Hertha BSC take on Liverpool at the Tivoli Stadion Tirol in a pre-season friendly fixture on Thursday.

Both sides have had unbeaten pre-season campaigns so far and will look to continue their good run of form.

This will be Hertha’s final pre-season fixture before the start of their 2021-22 campaign. Pal Dardai’s side will be heading into the game off the back of a 1-1 draw against VfB Lubeck and will need to step up their performance if they want to beat Liverpool on Thursday.

Liverpool are headed into the game off the back of a 1-0 win against Mainz last time out. Jurgen Klopp’s side should be confident of beating Hertha BSC given the difference in quality between the two sides.

Hertha BSC vs Liverpool Head-to-Head

Liverpool have the advantage based on the head-to-head record between the two sides and are unbeaten against Hertha BSC in their previous two meetings, winning one of them.

Liverpool beat Hertha 3-0 the last time the two sides met back in 2017. Goals from Dominic Solanke, Giorginio Wijnaldum and Mohamed Salah were enough to secure the victory.

Hertha BSC vs Liverpool Team News

Hertha BSC

Krzysztof Piatek will miss the game as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury he picked up at the end of the 2021-22 season. New signing Stevan Jovetic could make his first start for the club on Thursday.

Jordan Torunarigha, Arne Maier, Matheus Cunha and Lucas Tousart are unavailable for the game, having been called up by their respective countries for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Injured: Krzysztof Piaktek

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Unavailable: Jordan Torunarigha, Arne Maier, Matheus Cunha, Lucas Tousart

Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Virgil van Dijk could make his much-awaited return from injury, but will most likely start on the bench against Hertha BSC. Joe Gomez is also close to making his return to the squad, but will not feature in Thursday’s game.

Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Roberto Firmino and Alisson have not yet joined the squad as they are on holiday following their exploits for their respective countries.

Injured: Joe Gomez

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Unavailable: Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Roberto Firmino, Alisson