Liverpool played out a behind closed doors friendly match on Sunday as they thumped Stoke City 5-0.
The Reds clearly proved too good for their Championship visitors as they stepped up their preparations for the new season.
Liverpool travel to Hong Kong on Sunday evening, as they embark upon the next leg of their summer fixtures.
Imminent new signing Hugo Ekitike will not join Liverpool’s tour this weekend, but could reportedly join up in the coming days.
In the meantime, Arne Slot and his players prepared for their flight with a comfortable win at the Liverpool training ground. Darwin Nunez scored three, with Rio Ngumoha and Federico Chiesa also among the goals.
Details have now emerged of the Reds’ XI, or rather, the two different XI’s which took to the field against Stoke. And it makes for some very interesting reading indeed, especially for Dominik Szoboszlai.
Dominik Szoboszlai plays at right-back for Liverpool
Fans had not expected that Liverpool would be playing on Sunday. The club did a good job at keeping the fixture a secret.
The cat is out of the bag now, though, and the Liverpool ECHO have broken down exactly who played where during the drubbing.
The team which Slot picked to start the game was arguably stronger, with Giorgi Mamardashvili, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Andy Robertson lining up in defence.
Rather amazingly, it was Szoboszlai who reportedly completed the back line. The Hungarian is said to have been deployed at right-back for the opening 45 minutes.
With Alexis Mac Allister seemingly still missing, Curtis Jones and Trey Nyoni made up the midfield. Florian Wirtz made his unofficial debut in attacking midfield, with Mohamed Salah to his right, Ngumoha to his left and hat-trick hero Nunez in front.
READ MORE: Florian Wirtz makes Liverpool debut behind closed doors as Rio Ngumoha and Darwin Nunez shine
The second-half saw 11 changes from Slot, with two more players featuring out of position. Armin Pecsi was in goal, with Milos Kerkez, Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch all in their usual positions.
But there was seemingly further strangeness in defence, where Kostas Tsimikas is said to have played at centre-back. Cody Gakpo was also out of position, reportedly playing in Wirtz’s attacking midfield role.
The attack also makes for interesting reading, with Jeremie Frimpong on the right, Chiesa through the middle and Ben Doak on the left.
Who was not involved for Liverpool?
While these changes from Slot may ultimately prove to be meaningless and never seen again, they are interesting to note nonetheless.
What is perhaps even more noteworthy is listing those Liverpool players who were not involved on Sunday.
The headline name here is blatantly Luis Diaz. Bayern Munich are rumoured to be readying a second bid for Diaz, and there remains a feeling that the 28-year-old could leave. This will do nothing to stop that talk.
However, it is worth pointing out that Alisson Becker did not play either. The goalkeeper and Diaz were the only two of Liverpool’s South American quartet to play in the summer World Cup qualifiers.
As a result, it could simply be that Slot was handing a rest to Diaz, along with Alisson. Mac Allister also did not play as he continues to recover from an unspecified knock.
Meanwhile, Pecsi was preferred to Freddie Woodman, and Harvey Elliott – also linked with a move away – and Tyler Morton are not yet back in full training.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
