Liverpool welcome newly promoted Norwich City to Anfield for the Premier League's curtain raiser to kick off the 2019/20 campaign.
It's safe to say these are two sides with completely different ambitions for the upcoming season. Liverpool will be aiming to go one better after finishing second behind Manchester City, while Premier League survival will be more than satisfactory for Championship winners Norwich.
Take a look at 90min's preview ahead of top tier's opening encounter.
Where to Watch
| When Is Kick Off? | Friday 9 August |
| What Time Is Kick Off? | 20:00 (BST) |
| Where Is it Played? | Anfield |
| TV Channel/Live Stream? | Sky Sports Main Event - fuboTV |
| Referee? | Michael Oliver |
Team News
Liverpool's deadly front three were short of game time during pre-season but two thirds look set to start the first game of the season.
Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah played against Manchester City on Sunday, but Sadio Mane likely won't be rushed back after reaching the AFCON final with Senegal.
Meanwhile, injuries to Christoph Zimmermann, Louis Thompson and Alexander Tettey will see them all sidelined for Norwich, but first choice centre back Timm Klose could return from a hip problem.
Predicted Lineups
| Liverpool | Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Gomez, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Origi. |
| Norwich | Fahrmann; Aarons, Godfrey, Klose, Lewis; McLean, Vrancic; Buendia, Stiepermann, Hernandez; Pukki. |
Head to Head Record
Unsurprisingly, Liverpool have had the better of this fixture, having won seven and drawn two of the nine fixtures since the turn of the millennium.
But this is a match which has been far more entertaining and unpredictable than those statistics might suggest. The latest encounter was a thrilling 5-4 Liverpool victory at Carrow Road during the 2015/16 season, while they also secured a narrow 3-2 win in the 2013/14 campaign.
In fact, this tie consistently produces plenty of goals so we can hope for more of the same on Friday evening; Liverpool have put at least three past their opponents in six of those nine matches.
Recent Form
Pre-season form isn't an overly reliable method of predicting results come the start of a new campaign, but they're worth taking a look at nonetheless.
Liverpool's pre-season hasn't been entirely successful; they won just three of their seven fixtures, two of which came against much weaker opposition in the form of Tranmere and Bradford. Their only other victory came against Lyon in their final match.
They followed this up with a shaky first half performance against Manchester City in the Community Shield, but were somewhat unlucky to lose on penalties following a much-improved second half display.
Norwich's pre-season showing has also been inconsistent, featuring four victories from their seven games, defeating the likes of Schalke and Ligue 1 outfit Toulouse, but also falling to heavy defeats to Atalanta and Brentford.
Here are each side's last five results.
| Liverpool | Norwich |
| Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City (4-5 on Pens) (4/8) | Norwich 1-0 Toulouse (3/8) |
| Liverpool 3-1 Lyon (31/7) | Norwich 1-4 Atalanta (30/7) |
| Liverpool 0-3 Napoli (28/7) | Luton Town 1-5 Norwich (27/7) |
| Liverpool 2-2 Sporting Lisbon (25/7) | Norwich 1-3 Brentford (24/7) |
| Liverpool 1-2 Sevilla (21/7) | Schalke 1-2 Norwich (19/7) |
Prediction
Liverpool will be eager to get off to the best possible start, and shouldn't have too many difficulties when they attempt to do so on Friday.
Norwich clearly carry a threat in attack; Teemu Pukki was the Championship's top goalscorer last season, finding the net an impressive 29 times.
But Liverpool should have far too much firepower for the Premier League new boys and claim a comfortable win.
Prediction: Liverpool 3-0 Norwich
Source : 90min