Liverpool’s gruelling four-week European training camp ended with victory over Bologna in two pre-season mini-games in France on Thursday,
The Reds won both 60-minute matches in Evian, triumphing 2-0 in game one thanks to early goals from Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane, and seeing Takumi Minamino’s fine strike give them a 1-0 success in game two.
There were positives all round, with Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez making their second appearance of pre-season and the Brazilian trio of Alisson Becker, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino returning to action in game two.
Liverpool will return to the UK on Friday, and will play friendly matches at Anfield against Athletic Club (Sunday) and Osasuna (Monday) before their Premier League campaign gets underway at Norwich on August 14.
Below, Goal goes through the major talking points from the Reds' latest pre-season matches...
Van Dijk takes another big step
After just over 20 minutes against Hertha Berlin in Tirol last Thursday, Van Dijk was able to double his workload in Evian a week later.
The Dutchman, making just his second appearance since returning from a long-term knee injury, lasted 42 minutes of Liverpool’s first game against Bologna.
A valuable workout, to say the least. Van Dijk partnered Joel Matip and looked as though he’d never been away.
There were towering headers in both boxes, crisp passes into midfield and a couple of trademark diagonals out to Mo Salah. Bologna offered little, but Van Dijk and Matip were unflustered whenever the Italians did dare to attack.
Getty/Goal
His presence has certainly been missed. Van Dijk is the leader of the Reds’ defence, and he has settled straight back into that role.
Whether telling Naby Keita to take an extra touch, instructing Robertson to get tighter and stop the cross, or urging Trent Alexander-Arnold to carry the ball upfield, the big man could be heard.
He should get another good run-out this weekend when, providing there is no adverse reaction to Thursday’s efforts, he will be looking to play an hour or so. “See you all at Anfield,” he tweeted. “I can’t wait.”
The opening Premier League game, a week on Saturday, might come a little too soon, but it shouldn’t be long before he is back up and running and back in Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI.
And isn’t that just music to the ears of Reds fans?
Jota the slotter is back in business
It took Diogo Jota just eight minutes to make his mark in game one.
Gifted possession by a loose Bologna pass, the Portuguese star took full advantage, weaving past a recovering defender and stroking home the opening goal.
‘Jota the Slotter’, they call him, and after 13 goals in his debut season on Merseyside, the former Wolves forward looks set for another fruitful campaign this time around.
Getty/Goal
Make no mistake, Liverpool’s established front three has serious competition now. Jota hit the ground running after his move to Anfield last summer, his progress checked only by the knee injury he suffered away to Midtjylland in December. With a clear run this time around, the 24-year-old should become a regular starter.
He is, in every sense, a Liverpool player, a Klopp player; quick, direct, hungry and always dangerous. “A pressing monster,” according to assistant manager Pep Lijnders. His coaches love him, and so do his team-mates.
Squad depth has been a hot topic among Liverpool fans this summer, and rightly so, but with Jota, Salah, Mane and Firmino, who made his first appearance of pre-season in game two, all on board, Klopp knows he has four high-class attackers to choose from heading into the new campaign.
Defences beware!
Is Origi's time up?
If Divock Origi had any doubt as to where he stands in the Anfield pecking order right now, then these games will have sharpened the Belgian’s focus.
Origi was not involved at all in game one in Evian, and was only a substitute for game two, replacing Firmino for the final 30 minutes, as Klopp preferred to start with Minamino and Shaqiri either side of the returning Brazilian.
It wasn’t a happy cameo either, Origi hitting the post with a penalty after Ben Woodburn had been fouled. That’s just how it is for the 26-year-old, who netted a spot-kick earlier in pre-season but whose last competitive goal for the Reds came 11 months ago in the League Cup at Lincoln.
Getty/Goal
Origi will always be a Liverpool hero for what he did during that 2018-19 campaign. He was the man for the big occasion then, but times have changed. The feeling this summer is that a parting of the ways is in everybody’s best interest.
Whether it will happen, however, is another matter. Liverpool have received no firm offers so far, and Anfield sources insist a loan deal will not be considered. There has been talk of interest from Germany and Italy, as well as the Premier League, but the Reds’ £15million ($21m) asking price could prove prohibitive.
With Salah and Mane heading to the African Cup of Nations in January, Liverpool know that attacking cover is needed. Origi has provided it admirably in the past, but are those days behind him now?
New-look Elliott looks the real deal
Harvey Elliott may only be 18, but you wouldn’t know it watching him play.
The teenager has done himself no harm at all this summer. If pre-season is a time to catch the manager’s eye, then he has done exactly that.
That season on loan at Blackburn looks like it was well spent. Elliott has returned stronger and hungrier, leaner and more confident. Ready to make his mark.
“He’s a top player, a top talent,” said James Milner, who started alongside the youngster in game one. “I can see him making a big impact this season.”
Getty/Goal
Maybe that will be in midfield, as opposed to his ‘natural’ position as a right-sided attacker. Elliott has relished his role as a hard-running No.8 this summer, happy to do the ugly side of the game, the tracking and the pressing and the tackling. His quality in possession, meanwhile, has the potential to give Liverpool something extra from that position.
“He’s got a great mindset, he doesn’t need too much guidance,” added Milner, who made his Premier League debut before Elliott was born. “The more minutes he can get with the boys, the closer he’ll be.”
On this evidence, he’s getting close already. A big future awaits.
Anfield awaits – and expects
It promises to be an emotional moment when Liverpool take to the field to face Athletic Club this weekend.
Not since the visit of another Liga side, Atletico Madrid, 17 months ago will Anfield have had so many supporters inside. Around 40,000 fans (75 per cent of the stadium’s capacity) will be present on Sunday, as they will when Osasuna roll into town on Monday evening.
For some, it will be a first taste. Summer signing Ibrahima Konate will feel it for the first time, while the likes of Kostas Tsimikas, Diogo Jota and Thiago Alcantara, who joined last year, have yet to have the full Anfield experience.
Liverpool could have their captain, Jordan Henderson, back for the Osasuna game. The England midfielder trained on Merseyside on Thursday and will link up with his team-mates at Kirkby on Saturday.
“We will see if he can play some minutes,” said Klopp, who also hopes to have Thiago available after injury.
There is excitement among the rest of his squad, who are desperate to return home after so long on the road.
“I can’t wait,” tweeted Andy Robertson. He isn’t the only one, that’s for sure.
.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=640&quality=60)