Rickie Lambert says Liverpool’s final pre-season friendly of the summer against Borussia Dortmund on Sunday is the perfect test before the new Premier League season gets underway.
The German Bundesliga runners-up visit Anfield for the first time since 2001 just one week before Southampton come to Liverpool for the opening game of the 2014/15 season.
For Lambert, it will be the moment his boyhood dream comes true, stepping out in front of the Kop in a Liverpool shirt for the first time since his £4 million move from Southampton earlier this summer.
The 32-year-old says the final preparations for the new campaign are well underway and says a big team like Dortmund are just what the Reds need.
“I’ve come to learn that the week before the season, and the last pre-season game, is when you get a sense of how well the team’s done over pre-season,” he told the club’s official website.
“All the other games are about training hard to get the fitness in, so the sharpness may not be as good as you want it to be. But, the last game is about getting back and ready for the first game of the season.
“It’s a great opposition, again. The lads are in good shape, I’m looking forward to it and it’s in front of the home fans as well so I can’t wait.”
Liverpool have signed three players from their first opponents of the season Southampton this summer, with Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren following Lambert from St Mary’s to Merseyside.
Lambert now hopes he can impress enough against Dortmund to earn an appearance against his former club.
“Another run-out, I’m getting fitter, like I said I’ve gone into games not feeling that sharp, but that’s what you want, if you know what I mean; you want to be tired going into the games because you’re working so hard in training,” he added.
“When the Southampton game is coming up, that’s when you’ll get the rest, in the lead up, when you’ve got that sharpness. I want to get a goal, if I can get a goal that’ll be brilliant.”
Liverpool v Borussia Dortmund gets underway at 12:15pm on Sunday, 10th August 2014 and it’s live on BT Sport and LFC TV GO.
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