5 Things Liverpool Need from Their Friendlies vs. HJK Helsinki and Swindon Town

Liverpool this weekend travel to Finland, where they face HJK Helsinki on Saturday, then return to England to face League One side Swindon Town on Sunday.

Having two games within 24 hours means, presumably, that we will see Brendan Rodgers fully utilise his squad ahead of the start of the new season a week later.

The Reds play Stoke City on August 9, with these two games meaning they'll have played a total of six pre-season friendlies since the last time they were at the Britannia Stadium—and were humiliated, 6-1.

Liverpool's squad returned from their tour of Asia and Australia last weekend, with the full squad meeting up with new team-mates Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino upon their return to training at Melwood on Tuesday.

Ahead of the friendly double-header, we take a look at five things Liverpool need to get from the games against HJK and Swindon.

First Action for Benteke and Firmino

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According to the Liverpool Echo's Kristian Walsh, "a decision has not yet been made on whether new boys Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino will travel to Finland."

That doesn't mean that the big-name duo are definitely not heading to Helsinki, but even if they don't, you would fully expect them to take part in the game at Swindon on Sunday, having benefited from an extra day (or two taking into account travel) training and building their fitness.

Benteke, a £32.5 million arrival, would be particularly useful to have in that opening-day clash at Stoke, given his physical and aerial presence both defensively on set pieces and in attack. Rodgers will be eager to get him as close to match fitness as possible.

Firmino's integration to the club will likely be a little less hasty, allowing the £29 million addition from Hoffenheim time to find his feet from the bench initially.

Fitness for Coutinho and Can

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Last season's Player of the Year, Philippe Coutinho, and one of the few new signings from the previous summer to impress, Emre Can, returned to training last week after their international commitments earlier in the summer with the Brazil and Germany under-21s respectively.

You would expect both to be key men for Liverpool in 2015/16, especially if Can can make the defensive midfield position his own.

They both played 45 minutes for the Reds' under-21s at Corby Town last weekend in an effort to build their fitness, and Coutinho is definitely in the squad to face Helsinki, per LFCTour.

It will be especially interesting to see where Coutinho lines up when used—will he be in the front three, or deeper in the midfield three?

Establish Back Four

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The last two pre-season games, against Brisbane Roar and the Malaysia XI, have seen Dejan Lovren line up alongside Martin Skrtel in the centre of the Reds' defence.

However, most supporters would much prefer Mamadou Sakho to be Skrtel's partner at the heart of the defence and Rodgers must give the Slovakian and Frenchman time to work on their partnership.

Nathaniel Clyne is assured of his place at right-back, but Alberto Moreno has missed most of the pre-season action so far and needs time on the left—that is, unless Rodgers is intending to play youngster Joe Gomez at left-back for the start of the season.

Somewhere in these two games we need to see the back four that Rodgers intends to be using against Stoke, and hopefully it has Sakho, not Lovren, in it.

Squad Time for Fringe Players

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While it will be important to establish relationships between key personnel, having two games in such quick succession means that any player playing both games is unlikely to feature for more than 60 minutes in either.

Rodgers will have to juggle his squad, and that means a great opportunity to give some playing time to peripheral squad players such as Lazar Markovic, Danny Ings and Joe Allen.

Youngsters Jordan Rossiter, Jerome Sinclair, Cameron Brannagan and Ryan Kent all featured for the under-21s in their 4-0 defeat to Chester on Wednesday night, meaning their inclusion is in doubt.

That, though, means Rodgers is likely to focus on his first-team squad and ensuring every player gets plenty of minutes under their belt.

Determine Preferred Formation

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Pre-season so far has seen Rodgers implement a 4-3-3 formation for all but 45 minutes of their opening game, and that formation appears to be his preferred setup going into the new season.

Most would assume that means a midfield three featuring James Milner and Jordan Henderson, plus a holding role for either Can, Lucas Leiva or Allen.

Ahead of them would be a front three consisting, depending fitness, of Coutinho, Benteke and Jordon Ibe—with Firmino to be eased into life at the club rather than handed a full debut in the opening game against Stoke.

However, the idea of implementing a midfield diamond is one that looks strong on paper, using Coutinho behind the front two.

Rodgers will be eager for a quick start after the way last season ended, and he must ensure his desired formation gets plenty of time for players to get used to.