It's that time of year again, and Liverpool Football Club are back in training as they begin to build up to the Premier League season, which is less than a month away. 

With the misery of 2014-15 now almost behind the club, the new season rapidly approaches, and Liverpool are quickly preparing for their first friendly of a heavy pre-season programme - which gets underway next week.

It's been an eventful seven weeks since the Reds were embarrassed at the hands of Stoke City on the final day of last season, but now we're only a few days away from seeing them back on a football pitch, albeit across the other side of the world.

With six new signings have already walked through the door, only a number of which are expected to feature for the full pre-season tour, Liverpool have been hard at work to ensure last season's disappointments were only temporary.

That work will all be tested when they revisit the scene of May's humiliation - the Britannia Stadium - for their first game on Sunday 8 August, but until those on the fringes of the first-team will be looking to prove themselves worthy of a place in the side for the coming campaign.

Impressing over the five friendlies will be vital for the likes of Joe Gomez and Tiago Ilori - with one of the duo expected to be loaned out next season and the other, the one who performs better across pre-season, will be given a chance on Merseyside.

But it will also be important for Brendan Rodgers and his new coaching staff to ensure the side are fully prepared for a make-or-break campaign for the Northern Irishman.

Liverpool embark on lengthy travels for pre-season

The Reds kick things off in Thailand on Tuesday night - taking on a Thai All Star XI at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, similarly to their clash with the Thailand national team on the same ground in 2013. That will be the Reds' first of five pre-season games, across three different continents as they travel near 30,000 miles to greet fans from all ends of the Earth.

Rodgers' charges won't be hanging around afterwards however, as they fly over 4,500 miles to Australia for their second and third games of a busy schedule. 

In their first game down under, on Friday July 17, Liverpool will be taking on Brisbane Roar - who beat Villarreal 3-0 in the first game of their pre-season campaign earlier this month as they look to bridge the gap between the last A League season - which ended in May, before the next season starts in October. 

Three days later, on July 20, they will play against another A League side, this time Adelaide United. Playing at the Adelaide Oval, which will house 53,500 supporters, it will act as one of the Australian club's two warm-up games - the other against Liverpool's Premier League opponents Manchester City, as they prepare for a Football Federation Australia Cup tie in August.

Soon after which, Liverpool will again be on a lengthy plane ride as they embark on their journey to Malaysia - where they last visited in 2011, again to take on a Malaysia XI. Surprise surprise, they'll also be playing in the same stadium as the one in which they won 6-3 in an entertaining friendly four years ago in Kuala Lumpur.

The Reds' first-team will enjoy a week off before they travel to Finland for their final warm-up game - as they take on HJK Helsinki to complete their preparations. A week before the opening day of their league campaign, Rodgers' side take on ther reigning Finnish champions, who also sit atop their domestic league, at the Olympic Stadium.

Full pre-season tour schedule (all kick-off times for UK):

July

Tuesday 14th: Thai All Stars (Rajamangala Stadium) - 14:30pm KO
Friday 17th: Brisbane Roar (Suncorp Stadium) - 9:45 KO
Monday 20th: Adelaide United (Adelaide Oval) - 10:30 KO
Friday 24th: Malaysia XI (Bukit Jalil National Stadium) - 13:45 KO

August

Saturday 1st: Helsinki JK (Olympic Stadium) - 17:30 KO

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About the author
Charlie Malam
Digital Sports Writer at the Daily Express. First-class Staffordshire University Sports Journalism graduate. Formerly VAVEL UK's Liverpool FC editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Contributor since June 2014.