Arne Slot names 'first aim' of Liverpool summer as prediction made ahead of US pre-season tour

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has predicted that the intensity among his squad will ramp up even further as they head to the United States for the next phase of his first pre-season at the helm.

The 45-year-old Dutch boss oversaw a behind-closed-doors friendly on Friday , with Liverpool losing 1-0 at the AXA Training Centre against Championship side Preston North End. The Reds are still missing around 11 senior players because of major international tournaments but the new season is now under a month away.

Next up, Liverpool will face Real Betis, Arsenal and Manchester United in America. And Slot says that his players will benefit from playing high-class opposition — and he is expecting the intensity to go up another notch.

READ MORE: Erik ten Hag's Arne Slot comments suggest Man Utd boss made U-turn over Liverpool coach
READ MORE: Liverpool transfer news LIVE: Goncalo Inacio priority, Riccardo Calafiori agreement, Manuel Ugarte move

"I assume this, but the resistance of the teams we play is strong," the Dutchman told the Reds' official website . "We are trying to implement the ideas and keep doing what we have done so well. Keeping the boys fit — that’s the first aim.

"Those things are the first aim and then with all the players coming back I think the quality will definitely go up a lot as well and these two things — training sessions and boys coming back in — will help us to play even better than we did [on Friday]."

While Slot would have preferred to beat Preston, things are heading in the right direction behind the scenes. He has been pleased with the efforts of the players so far — and key men like Virgil van Dijk , Alexis Mac Allister and Diogo Jota are still to return.

"It’s only two weeks in so if it was that easy to bring and to implement all your ideas in two weeks, that would have been an ideal situation," he said. "But it doesn’t work like this!

"Like I said, the ones who came in from the start, they are still fit now, they have had two weeks of training sessions and stayed fit during the game so are getting fitter and fitter. But yeah, there are definitely more than a few areas where we have to improve but that will come with more sessions and it will definitely come when all the boys are in."

Liverpool.com says: While a meltdown was inevitable on social media after the Reds lost the game on Friday, things are calmer behind the scenes. A truer picture of where the squad is at will come in the US and then in the Sevilla friendly at Anfield. We won't know for sure, though, until eight or 10 games in the Premier League have been played.