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Several new summer signings as part of a near-£300 million transfer haul have been able to play their first minutes in those fixtures.

Slot now has the opportunity to hand out competitive debuts as the ECHO considers five new faces part of a dream, strongest XI that Liverpool can field on Sunday.

READ MORE:Alexander Isak to Liverpool transfer latest as Newcastle star breaks cover amid £150m warningREAD MORE:Rodrygo to Liverpool transfer 'twist' as Xabi Alonso makes major new Real Madrid decision

Impressive in pre-season has been midfielder Florian Wirtz.



The midfielder is unfazed by his £100m, potentially rising to a British record £116m, price tag and has proven he is ready to go from the offset with his first goal scored against Yokohama.

Similar can be said for fellow attacking influence Hugo Ekitike, with the Frenchman having assisted Mohamed Salah on his first Anfield outing vs Athletic Club on Monday.

In defence, Slot appears to have given the game away that new full-back signings Jeremie Frimpong, purchased from Bayer Leverkusen for £29.5m, and Milos Kerkez, bought from Bournemouth for £40m, are going to be his pairing moving forwards.

At least in the Dutchman's case, taking a spot in the team for the Community Shield looks to be no sweat off his back as Conor Bradley missed the latest pre-season fixtures due to a minor injury.

For the Hungarian, he is battling both Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas for the left-back berth and he beat both to starting in the second of two friendlies against Athletic Club, which featured a more senior side.

And whilst it may be the true dream scenario to see Alisson Becker restored in goal, the goalkeeper has missed four pre-season fixtures.

Reds fans will still easily be excited to see £29m arrival Giorgi Mamardashvili make his first competitive start, as seems the most sensible option given the Georgian international has the most minutes in the tank of the two.

Now, there remains the question of a sixth Reds debutant with three days to go until the big game.

With just about enough time and obvious interest from the club, there remains potential for Alexander Isak to sign for Liverpool from Newcastle United and make his first start at the end of what would be a whirlwind period.

For his 62 goals and 11 assists in three seasons on Tyneside you'd have to consider the striker a dream starter in any instance, but at the same time there are so many moving parts that make the likelihood next to zero, for the Community Shield at least.

First off, Liverpool have not lined up a return offer after their first, worth £110m, was rejected immediately last Friday.

Newcastle are then yet to sign a replacement and appear to be losing the battle to land latest top target Benjamin Sesko, meanwhile Isak himself is midway through recovery from a thigh issue that has meant he has been unable to play at all this pre-season.

Slot would then have the pick of his existing pool of Reds Premier League champions to take on FA Cup victors Palace.

Rounding off a three-pronged attack would be Salah and Cody Gakpo, who has the opportunity become the definitive left winger of this team now Luis Diaz has departed for Bayern Munich.

This was earned for a red card on the final day of last season, coincidentally vs Palace.

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And in a battle for the remaining spot between Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, the latter just edges the fight owing to his impressive pre-season run since being pushed further back into a No.8 role because of Wirtz's arrival, plus there is the fact Mac Allister has contended with injury recovery this pre-season.

To finish the dream XI with a central defensive pairing, Virgil van Dijk recovers from the illness that kept him out of the Athletic Club double-header and takes the captain's armband to fit alongside Ibrahima Konate.

Dream Liverpool line-up vs Crystal Palace: Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Salah, Ekitike, Gakpo


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