Liverpool got the Arne Slot era up and running with a win in their first official pre-season friendly, with Dominik Szoboszlai‘s goal enough to down Real Betis 1-0.
Liverpool 1-0 Real Betis
Pre-season Friendly, Acrisure Stadium (Pittsburgh, PA)
July 27, 2024
Attendance: 42,679
Goals
Szoboszlai 34′ (assist – Salah)
The Reds were without a number of key names for the first game of their pre-season tour, but Slot fielded arguably his strongest possible side in Pittsburgh.
Caoimhin Kelleher was able to start after missing the behind-closed-doors loss to Preston back on Merseyside, with Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Sepp van den Berg and Kostas Tsimikas making up his back four.
Wataru Endo and Curtis Jones were paired in midfield, with Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho out wide and Szoboszlai and Harvey Elliott more advanced in an attack missing a striker.
After almost three weeks of training under Slot, Liverpool showed promising signs in their patterns of play and dominated their Spanish opposition.
Endo and Salah both saw shots sail off target, while at the other end Marcos Fernandez fired an effort into the side-netting after Endo was caught on the edge of the box.
Liverpool found their opener not long after the half-hour, with Szoboszlai picking up the ball on the turn and, after combining with Salah, firing beyond Adrian and into the bottom corner.
Slot had already been forced into his first change by then, with Jones withdrawn due to discomfort and the impressive Trey Nyoni taking his place.
Further alterations came at half-time, with Vitezslav Jaros replacing Kelleher and Tyler Morton coming on for Endo, and around the hour, with a raft of youngsters brought on to freshen things up.
Former Liverpool target Nabil Fekir looked to surprise Jaros with a free-kick towards his near post, but was unable to hit the target as Real Betis struggled for chances.
The Reds should really have had an opportunity to make it 2-0 when Ben Doak drifted inside and Harvey Blair was sent through via Nyoni.
READ: Arne Slot explains surprise formation vs. Real Betis – and why we won’t see it often!
But while Blair appeared to have been brought down by the goalkeeper, no penalty was given and Kaide Gordon was unable to convert the loose ball.
Doak was a continued threat and Jaros was required to make a strong save late on, but the friendly ended with a 1-0 win for Liverpool as their US tour kicked off in positive fashion.
Liverpool: Kelleher (Jaros 46′); Bradley (Stephenson 63′), Quansah (Phillips 63′), Van den Berg (Chambers 63′), Tsimikas (Beck 63′); Endo (Morton 46′), Jones (Nyoni 30′ Koumas 73′); Salah (Blair 63′), Szoboszlai (Bajcetic 63′), Elliott (Doak 63′), Carvalho (Gordon 63′)
Subs not used: Nallo
Injured: Robertson, McConnell
Next match: Arsenal (Philadelphia, PA) – Pre-season friendly – Thursday, August 1, 12.30am (BST)
