Liverpool Defeats Yokohama FM in Pre-Season Tour with Wirtz Scoring and Ekitike Debuting

Ekitike started before being taken off at half-time in a pre-planned substitution. Arne Slot then made wholesale changes midway through the second half – with Mac Allister among those to come on – as the Reds continue building up their fitness ahead of the new season. Alisson Becker missed the game due to personal reasons.

Liverpool: Mamardashvili, Van Dijk (Endo, 59), Konate (Tsimikas, 64), Szoboszlai (Elliott, 64), Salah (Nyoni, 64), Gakpo (Ngumoha, 64), Gravenberch (Jones, 46), Ekitike (Nunez, 46), Kerkez (Robertson, 64), Wirtz (Mac Allister, 64), Bradley (Frimpong, 64). Unused subs: Woodman, Pecsi, Morton, Stephenson.

First half

Liverpool were firmly in charge for much of the first half, with only the finishing touch lacking. Cody Gakpo struck the foot of the post with a low curler early on after a strong surge forward by Conor Bradley, and Wirtz then saw a shot from just outside the penalty area deflected wide. Mohamed Salah was, as is so often the case, the Reds’ creative fulcrum and his lovely, first-time pass over the top freed Gakpo, who was unable to get a clean shot away under pressure from a defender. Another classy Salah ball – after he’d been located with a trademark, pinpoint switch of play from Virgil van Dijk – found Dominik Szoboszlai’s run from deep, but the No.8 failed while trying to round the goalkeeper. An inventive flick by Ekitike was saved by Il-Gyu Park as the pressure on Yokohama continued to grow, but Giorgi Mamardashvili was needed to keep Liverpool level at half-time. A swift Yokohama counter-attack ended with Jun Amano directing a header towards the bottom corner, which the Reds’ goalkeeper did well to tip wide.