There was no Florian Wirtz at Deepdale on Sunday but a trio of other new arrivals made their Liverpool debuts in the Reds’ first pre-season friendly.
Giorgi Mamardashvili, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez were all handed their first minutes for the reigning Premier League champions as they saw off Preston North End on an emotional afternoon in the north-west.
PRESTON NORTH END 1-3 LIVERPOOL
Goals: Bradley, Nunez, Gakpo
Assists: Szoboszlai, Doak
FULL-BACK WATCH
Frimpong and Kerkez came on at the interval at Deepdale, with Arne Slot giving 22 squad members 45 minutes apiece.
They lined up as expected at right-back and left-back respectively, with one of Kerkez’s positional rivals, Andrew Robertson, operating as a makeshift centre-half.
Kerkez was more heavily involved in Liverpool’s build-up play, receiving, progressing and pinging the occasional ball, while he seemed to strike up a nice understanding with Cody Gakpo, going both inside and outside the Dutchman.
Frimpong was a little quieter; perhaps to be expected on his introduction to English football. He also had the relatively green Ben Doak playing ahead of him, too, so let’s see how he dovetails with Mohamed Salah when he gets the opportunity to do so.
Frimpong did gatecrash the box a couple of times, also having a shot blocked from outside the area. Boy, is he quick, too, with his recovery pace bailing Liverpool out on a couple of occasions.
Probably the most eye-catching full-back display came from Conor Bradley, however. Inverting centrally and almost playing alongside line-leading striker Federico Chiesa at times, it was no real surprise when he popped up from six yards to give Liverpool the lead. That followed fine work from Chiesa and the impressive young winger, Rio Ngumoha.
Given that he’s inured to Slot’s methods, and that his career is on an upward trajectory (unlike Kerkez’s main rival Robertson), it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Bradley start over Frimpong come Gameweek 1.
WHERE’S WIRTZ?
Mamardashvili had a quiet debut, with Preston’s first-half efforts off target.
North End’s goal came late on, with centre-back Liam Lindsay losing Doak to nod in a corner.
We were deprived of seeing a fourth new arrival in Wirtz: he’s on an individual training programme alongside the likes of Luis Diaz, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister. Nothing sinister there; remember that Wirtz had two 90-minute run-outs for Germany last month.
JOTA TRIBUTES
There wasn’t much else to note from a friendly played at half-pace, as most opening warm-up matches tend to be. Salah was quiet but then, this was predominantly an exercise in fitness building.
Darwin Nunez came off the bench to pounce on a Preston error to score, later dummying Doak’s low ball to allow Gakpo to finish.
The Uruguayan, looking for some sort of career kickstart, fired over a free-kick in the second half. Tsimikas meanwhile carried on the grand tradition of Liverpool full-backs taking corners.
Really, though, this friendly was about Diogo Jota. Tributes were paid to the late striker before, during and after the game, with Nunez and Gakpo paying homage to their teammate by mimicking his goal celebrations.
Liverpool first half XI: Mamardashvili, Bradley, Stephenson, Gomez, Tsimikas, Gravenberch, Nyoni, Szoboszlai, Salah, Chiesa, Ngumoha.
Liverpool second half XI: Woodman, Frimpong, Nallo, Robertson, Kerkez, Endo, Jones, Gakpo, Koumas, Doak, Nunez.