It doesn't seem that long ago that Liverpool were still dancing around Wembley with the FA Cup before heading onto Paris, but pre-season training already returns today.
In total, 19 of Jurgen Klopp's squad will return to the AXA Training Centre to begin preparations for a new Premier League, with players who were involved in international matches to join up later in the week. Naturally, the Reds will want to be peak condition by the time the season gets underway so they can expect to be put through their paces straight away this week.
And tested to the limit they will be, as the squad braces itself to take on one of Liverpool's most gruelling exercises - the lactate test. This notorious programme measures the player's aerobic endurance as participants are asked to run a series of increasing distances at great speeds. At the end of each checkpoint a sample of blood is taken from each player's ear to measure their lactic acid level. If the level is too high, they must drop out until there is only one player left.
