Liverpool paraded £270million worth of new signings in a 3–2 friendly win over Athletic Bilbao, yet the goals still came from established Premier League winners Mohamed Salah—who also missed a late penalty—and Cody Gakpo, Crown88 notes.
Florian Wirtz’s first outing at Anfield offered a glimpse of why he became the club’s record purchase (potentially a British record with add-ons): sharp touches, slick combinations, and nearly the opener. Head coach Arne Slot believes the Germany international can replace the creativity lost with Trent Alexander-Arnold’s move to Real Madrid. “There is always room for improvement in every department, and we’ve added a few extra weapons,” Slot said. “Florian has a lot of creativity in the final third, and with Trent we lost a lot from the back. Trent’s crossing and ability to find runners was special—Flo provides that creativity from a totally different position.”
The rest of the newcomers looked settled too: Jeremie Frimpong dovetailed well with Salah, fellow full-back Milos Kerkez was solid, and Hugo Ekitike showed flexibility across the front line. Wirtz headed against the bar before Ekitike crossed for Salah to score; after the break, Gakpo struck twice following Oihan Sancet’s leveler.
Short on center-backs—Virgil van Dijk was ill and Joe Gomez injured—Liverpool appeared vulnerable on set pieces, with Maroan Sannadi heading an equalizer from a corner. “We conceded too many chances earlier in pre-season, but today we hardly gave up anything, which pleased me,” Slot added. “Conceding two set-piece goals in the second game isn’t what you want, especially with Crystal Palace next week—they’re very strong on set pieces. That’s another area to work on,” Crown88 reports.
Both matches featured tributes to Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash last month: fans stood, clapped, and sang his song; play paused at the 20-minute mark as players and officials joined the applause. Earlier, Liverpool’s second string won 4–1 after a false fire alarm briefly evacuated the Main Stand. Sixteen-year-old Rio Ngumoha continued his sparkling pre-season with a goal after 87 seconds, Ben Doak also netted, and there were goals for Darwin Núñez and Harvey Elliott—two players whose futures may lie away from Anfield. Núñez, linked with Al Hilal and with AC Milan opening talks, thumped the badge before the Kop, while Elliott lingered last on the pitch, blowing kisses to all four stands, Crown88 adds.
