Liverpool lost 3-2 against Borussia Dortmund in Indiana last night, but there were plenty of positives to take from the game for Jurgen Klopp and his staff.
The likes of Harry Wilson, Fabinho and James Milner, who have been in pre-season training from the start, played an hour, while Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold all played their first minutes of pre-season.
Winners
The aforementioned Wilson – whose goal you can view by clicking here – showed some brilliant touches at times and will have been delighted to find the back of the net.
The winger looked confident and could have had a couple of assists, as well as his goal, had other players managed to convert when he played neat balls through.
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Adam Lewis came on for only half an hour in the game, but his cross led to Ben Woodburn being fouled for the penalty – which Rhian Brewster scored from – leading some fans to compare him to Andy Robertson.
The full-back is still ahead of Yasser Larouci in the pecking order – and his ability on the ball was evident last night.
Finally, even though Brewster got onto the scoresheet, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is the final player who was a big winner in the game. He’s looked sharp all pre-season and against Dortmund, that was no different. It was another excellent outing for him, suggesting big things to come over the next few months.
Losers
Nathaniel Clyne didn’t have the best of evenings, being at fault for the first goal when he should have cleared his lines quicker, and out of position for the second, when Thomas Delaney was able to poke home into an unguarded net. The right-back also was caught out on a couple of other occasions.
Winger Ryan Kent had a bit of a mixed bag of a game by all accounts. He did some good things, but also frustrated at times, and was outshone by Wilson, perhaps for the first time this pre-season. Against a high-class opponent, he would have wanted to show a little bit more of the quality he undoubtedly possesses.
Divock Origi had few opportunities in the match to show what he can do, and the Belgian forward was left a little frustrated at times. He’ll be hoping to make more of an impact next time out against Sevilla.