With the Premier League title having been wrapped up ahead of time, the Liverpool players have been much more relaxed ahead of their final games of the season.
Last weekend, the Reds went down 3-1 away at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, with Arne Slot making six changes to his starting XI. He could be similarly experimental against Arsenal at Anfield this Sunday.
Ahead of that game, Liverpool star Cody Gakpo has been spotted with Inter Milan full-back Denzel Dumfries. The Dutch teammates met up this week after the latter qualified for the Champions League final on Tuesday, setting up a showpiece game with PSG.
Gakpo posted a picture of them together in front of a mirror on his Instagram story on his birthday, seemingly having attended the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona earlier in the week.
Meanwhile, Alexis Mac Allister shared an image of himself and his girlfriend on the beach, and Darwin Nunez’s partner posted a snap of the Uruguayan on the sand with one of his children. Virgil van Dijk was also spotted with Kevin Hart.
Liverpool could finish on a maximum of 91 points this season in the Premier League with three more wins. But with a relentless schedule, taking the time to relax a little more than usual is much more important.
(Image: codymathesgakpo (Instagram))
This summer, the Reds will have an advantage of sorts by not being in the new Club World Cup, giving the players more of a break.
Slot will get the chance to work properly with them for longer in pre-season ahead of the new campaign, in which Liverpool will attempt to retain the league title and go further in Europe.
“In terms of [improving] the team, it is down to the board,” Van Dijk told reporters recently. “We all have to trust the board, and I trust the board to do the right thing for all of us, because they want us to be successful as well.
“Let’s see what the summer brings. First, we have a season ending that hopefully will be historical. I came in from a disappointing Euros [when Slot first arrived], had two and a half weeks off, and then came straight in with no pre-season, so obviously everything was a bit uncertain.
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“But from day one when we started to work, obviously confidence grew, we see what we are capable of, what we try to implement under the new regime, and consistency is the main thing.
“And I think we have found it from the start. I think it’s also the most difficult thing to get and to keep, but we did that well and if I expected us to be in this position now? No.
“Not because I don’t believe in the boys, but it’s more that I think to be 13 points clear at this stage of the season, I think that’s even past my wildest dreams. But that’s the situation. We’ve worked so hard to be in this situation; now we have an opportunity to finish off.”
