Liverpool showed off their £270million new signings in a 3-2 friendly win over Athletic Bilbao, although goals came from reigning Premier League title holders Mohamed Salah (who also missed a late penalty) and Kody Gakpo.
Florian Wirtz's first appearance at Anfield gave fans an insight into why the club decided to make him their own (with possible Briton additions), a record signing with some clever interplay and almost opening the scoring.
Head coach Arne Slot believes the Germany international will make up for the creative qualities the team has lost following the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid.
“I think there is always room for improvement in every aspect, and we have added some resources that I think are useful,” the Dutchman said.
“Florian has a lot of creativity in the final phase of attack, while we have lost a lot of creativity in defense with Trent leaving.
“Trent's crossing and ability to position the runners was just unique – Flo has that quality but in a completely different position. He brings that creativity.”
Wirtz's newcomers also showed good adaptation: Jeremie Frimpong worked well with Salah, defender Milos Kerkez showed reliability, and Hugo Ekitije showed his versatility across the entire attacking line.
Wirtz hit the crossbar before Ekitiek set up Salah to fire home, and Gakpo scored twice in the second half after Oyhan Sunset had levelled.
Liverpool went into the game with just one centre-back, with Virgil van Dijk ill and Joe Gomez injured. They looked vulnerable from set-pieces and Maroane Sannadi equalised with a header from a corner.
“In other pre-season games we conceded too many chances, but today we hardly conceded any, and that made me happy too,” added Slot.
“So to concede two goals from set pieces in the second leg is not something we want to do, especially going into the Crystal Palace game next week, a team that is very strong in set pieces. It's another area we need to work on.”
In both matches, spectators remembered Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash last month, by standing, clapping and singing the striker's anthem. When the clock hit 20, play on the pitch also stopped and the players and referees joined in the applause.
Earlier, Liverpool's B team secured a 4-1 win after a false fire alarm forced the evacuation of the Main Stand before kick-off. Rio Ngoumohha, 16, continued his impressive pre-season by scoring after just 87 seconds.
Also scoring was Ben Doak, three years his senior, as well as Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott, two players whose futures look set to lie far from Anfield.
Nunez, who has been linked with Al-Hilal for some time now, with Milan also opening talks for the Uruguayan, tapped the badge on his shirt in front of the Kop, while Elliott was the last to leave the pitch, blowing kisses in all four directions.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
