Liverpool Shocked in Pre-Season Opener: Salah and Youngsters Fall to Preston in Dramatic Friendly Defeat!
Liverpool experienced a stumbling block in their pre-season with a 1-0 behind-closed-doors defeat against Championship side Preston North End at the AXA Training Centre.
This match marked the first for new head coach Arne Slot. He used the game to asses his squad ahead of their upcoming tour to the United States.
The team fielded a mix of senior and young players, including Mohamed Salah, who captained the side and played 45 minutes.
Slot opted to field two completely different line-ups for each half, providing 25 players with an opportunity to exhibit their skills over the course of the match.
This friendly was Liverpool’s sole warm-up fixture before departing for their US tour, where they are set to face Real Betis, Arsenal, and Manchester United.
Dominik Szoboszlai was fresh from his return to training after European Championship duties. He played for 33 minutes.
Andy Robertson also recently rejoined training, but he did not feature in the game. The squad included first-team regulars such as Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Kostas Tsimikas, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Wataru Endo.
Sepp van den Berg, who expressed his desire to leave the club this summer, partnered Quansah at the center of the defense.
Ben Doak made his first appearance of the year, starting in the first half, while Vitezslav Jaros, another player back from Euros duty, started in goal before being substituted by Harvey Davies for the second half.
Liverpool Taste Defeat in First Match Under Slot
The only goal came from Preston’s Robbie Brady shortly before the half hour mark. He scored against the run of play after Liverpool had dominated early chances.
Doak had a shot blocked, Salah narrowly missed with a volley. Both Elliott and Bradley had attempts deflected wide.
Salah also provided an inviting low cross that Elliott could not convert to goal, making Liverpool’s best opportunity of the first half in vain.
Brady then capitalized on a defensive lapse to strike from long range. His shot found the net via the woodwork.
In second half Liverpool’s reshuffled line-up struggled to generate significant scoring opportunities.
Despite threats from Luke Chambers and Lewis Koumas, and a late attempt by Trey Nyoni, Preston’s goalkeeper Freddie Woodman managed to keep a clean sheet.
Jayden Danns and Bobby Clark were notable absentees, as were 11 of Liverpool’s players who were involved in international duties. The final whistle confirmed a 1-0 defeat for Liverpool in Arne Slot’s first match in charge.
LIVERPOOL: Jaros (Davies 46); Bradley (Stephenson 46), Van den Berg (Nallo 46), Quansah (Phillips 46), Tsimikas (Chambers 46 (Beck 75)); Jones (Bajcetic 46), Elliott (Morton 46), Szoboszlai (Endo 33 (Nyoni 75)); Doak (Koumas 46 (Blair 75)), Salah (Gordon 46), Carvalho (McConnell 46).
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