Liverpool unveil new 'red pepper' home kit for next season

Liverpool have unveiled their new home kit for the 2018/19 season.

The strip – which retains the retro, deeper-red colour of the current campaign – will be worn for the first time during the club’s final home game of the season against Brighton in May.

The Merseyside club are marketing the jersey as ‘Red Pepper’.

Should Liverpool reach the Champions League final, it could even make its second appearance before the end of this season.

Liverpool are the designated away team in the final, so that would only be possible if they get through to play Real Madrid in Kiev.

Captain Jordan Henderson admits he is dreaming of joining the elite group of Liverpool captains to lift the European Cup.

Only four Anfield skippers have enjoyed the privilege, Emlyn Hughes (1977 & 1978), Phil Thompson (1981), Graeme Souness (1984) and Steven Gerrard (2005).

Although Henderson issued a reminder of a tough challenge to get past AS Roma, he said it is natural for any player to consider the possibility of fulfilling the ultimate ambition as it gets closer.

“I think you dream about those things when you are a kid, really. Of course I have, as many other players have, but one step at a time,” said Henderson, speaking at the kit launch.

“Roma are a fantastic team and it will be a tough test for us so we will just have to wait and see.

“We certainly won't under-estimate them. They beat Barcelona 3-0 and they are a top team. It will be a difficult game both home and away. I've watched them a few times and they have got some very good players and a very good team. It will be a tough test, as it always would be in the semi-final of the Champions League, but it is a challenge for us to go in there being confident with the way we have been playing, especially in the last round. We have to go there and do what we have been doing and hopefully get to the final.”

Henderson is confident but cautious about current form.

“We are obviously in a good place at the moment but at the same time it is important not to get too carried away,” he said.

“Our focus is on playing football and doing everything we can to win games, whether that is in the Premier League or the Champions League. We have some big games coming up but we just need to continue doing what we have been doing most of the season, work hard on the training field and put that into games and hopefully at the end of the season we end on a high.

“It is a young team but I feel they are mature at the same time and are hungry to want more, learn and improve and that is the biggest thing. I think midweek showed that; having beaten City away and then put in the performance we did against Bournemouth shows the mentality of the players so we need to continue that, stay together as a group and focus on what is important.”