Liverpool beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at Ewood Park as the Reds’ pre-season continues to roll on.
The Reds were playing their fourth and final game of a mini pre-season series, which saw them go up against various lower league teams from the north west of England.
After a slow first half, Liverpool finally took the lead through substitute Lazar Markovic before Daniel Sturridge doubled their advantage with 20 minutes remaining.
Jurgen Klopp’s men will now travel to the United States to continue their pre-season as the start of the Premier League edges closer.
But first, here are five things we noticed from Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Blackburn.
1. Adam Lallana reminds Klopp of his midfield options
With a large part of Liverpool’s first team still on holiday following various World Cup exploits, the club’s pre-season so far has allowed some fringe players a chance to prove themselves.
And one of those, against Blackburn, was midfielder Adam Lallana. Left out of the England squad for the World Cup due to injury problems last season, Lallana sent out a reminder to Klopp that he is very much ready to influence the way Liverpool play.
Given the summer arrivals of Naby Keita and Fabinho as well as the World Cup campaign of Jordan Henderson, many had expected those three to make up Liverpool’s midfield next season.
But against Blackburn, Lallana was a level above his team-mates in the first half, finding himself at the heart of practically every Liverpool move.
The former Southampton man went closest to giving Liverpool the lead (James Milner’s penalty aside) in the first half, with a well-taken shot hitting the crossbar just before the break before another effort was cleared off the line by Charlie Mulgrew in the same move.
Yes, it may only be pre-season, and they may be going up against Championship opposition, but Lallana has certainly given Klopp something to think about for the season ahead.
2. Naby Keita is the key for Klopp
Despite being limited to 45 minutes as finding fitness is the key for pre-season, Naby Keita had yet another impressive performance in a Liverpool shirt.
Finally at his new club after initially signing last summer, the former RB Leipzig man picked up from where Lallana left off as the creative hub of the midfield.
Liverpool’s new no. 8 never truly stuck to one position in the midfield which made it that bit harder for the Blackburn defence to follow and deal with him.
In his 45 minutes, Keita showed all aspects of his brilliant game, playing in defence-splitting passes, winning balls back with his tackling, troubling Blackburn’s defenders with his dribbling all while providing some stability at the back.
Within 10 minutes of coming on the pitch, Keita played in a beautifully-weighted pass for Sturridge which should have resulted in the opening goal but for the latter’s miss.
But he finally got his assist with 20 minutes to go, winning the ball inside Blackburn’s half before playing in Sturridge for Liverpool’s second.
Again, it is only pre-season, but the Guinean must be one of the first names on Klopp’s team sheet come the first day of the Premier League season, leaving two places for his fellow midfielders to fight for.
3. Daniel Sturridge makes his case
As ever, pre-season has proved itself to be a second chance for certain players to impress their managers and shape their futures.
Against Blackburn, with Roberto Firmino still on holiday, Sturridge got another chance to prove himself to Klopp and fight for a place in the 25-man squad for the upcoming season.
Coming on at half-time for Dominic Solanke, who did little in the first half, Sturridge had a golden opportunity to open the scoring after a good pass from Keita but saw his shot trickle just wide.
For some players, even in pre-season this may have affected their game but the Englishman picked himself up and continued to push, finally getting his goal with 20 minutes to go.
Once again played through by Keita, Sturridge did well to squeeze the ball past the goalkeeper into the bottom right corner past the goalkeeper and double Liverpool’s lead.
Firmino may be Liverpool’s number one choice for the striker position this season but Sturridge may just find himself pushing the Brazilian rather than floundering on loan like he did at West Bromwich Albion last term.
4. Left-back may be Liverpool’s one squad weakness
With Alisson on his way, many Liverpool fans may be happy with their squad ahead of the upcoming competitive season – barring the dream addition of a certain Frenchman named Nabil Fekir.
But Blackburn enjoyed a lot of attacking possession in the first half of the friendly, with most of it coming down Liverpool’s left hand side.
Andy Robertson may be the standout performer at the club for left-back but behind him Liverpool fans will have little confidence in their options.
Alberto Moreno started the match on Thursday at Ewood Park and did not truly look up to the task before being taken off at half-time – though as part of pre-planned substitutions as is the norm in pre-season.
Going forward the Spaniard looked okay, but in defence he was the side’s weakness and was clearly targetted by the Blackburn attackers.
If Liverpool are to seriously mount challenges for trophies next season, Klopp will want to bolster his left-back options just in case Robertson cannot be called upon.
5. Lazar Markovic returns from the wilderness
With Klopp making 10 changes at half-time at Ewood Park, there was a surprise return for Lazar Markovic who some may not have realised still played for Liverpool.
The former Benfica man has been linked with a move away from the club this summer having spent the past three seasons on loan at four different clubs and Liverpool trying to look forward and forget his signing.
But the Serbian forward was given rare playing time on Thursday as Klopp tried to limit the amount of work his outfield players had to do in pre-season (as every manager does).
And he did himself no harm in either pushing for a place in Liverpool’s squad or a move away, by scoring the game’s opening goal in the second half.
Played in by Sturridge after Liverpool turned over the ball high into the Blackburn half, Markovic finished well past goalkeeper Jayson Leutwiler who had only just come on as a substitute.
The Serbian was also the frequent target of Blackburn’s tackling as Tony Mowbray’s men had clearly earmarked him as a danger in the second half.
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