Mo Salah spares Liverpool’s blushes with late equaliser in thrilling friendly – 5 talking points

GREUTHER FURTH 4-4 LIVERPOOL: Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah all found the back of the net for the Reds as they played out a thrilling draw in Germany

Liverpool continued their pre-season preparations with an entertaining 4-4 draw against Greuther Furth as Jurgen Klopp handed game time to 25 players.

The Reds took the lead through Luis Diaz in a dominant first-half performance from Klopp’s men, before the German side levelled just after the break following an error from Adrian. But it didn’t take Liverpool long to retake the lead as Darwin Nunez struck a quick-fire brace to hand them a 3-1 advantage.

However, the Bundesliga 2 side responded once more, scoring three times to edge themselves in front for the first time in the game, with Julian Green, Lukas Petkov and Armindo Sieb all scoring for Greuther Furth on the day. But they were unable to hold on for the victory as Mohamed Salah spared Liverpool’s blushes to level late on.

Here are five talking points from the game…

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Nunez clinical again

After finding the back of the net in Liverpool’s opening pre-season friendly, Nunez was back at it as he notched a clinical brace to put the Reds in the ascendancy. The Uruguayan, who came on at half-time alongside the likes of Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliott, scored within five minutes of his introduction.

It was Salah who found Nunez inside the box and the ex-Benfica man took the ball around the goalkeeper before sliding into an empty net. And it didn’t take long for Nunez to score another as he drove beyond his marker, took a touch inside onto his left boot and tucked the ball into the corner with ease.

Diaz back to his best

Having missed a large chunk of last season through injury, many Liverpool fans are hoping Diaz can stay fit – as on his day he is a world-class winger. The Colombian, who returned from a knee issue at the back end of last season, has looked sharp in pre-season so far and scored Liverpool’s opener in Germany.

Diaz created some space on the edge of the box, dribbled beyond his marker before coolly slotting the ball into the far corner with his favoured right foot. The ex-Porto winger could have added another to his tally following an excellent piece of play but his effort was tipped wide by the goalkeeper.

Kelleher not in squad

There was no place for Caoimhin Kelleher in the Liverpool squad to take on Greuther Furth, with Allison and Adrian playing a half each during the game. Kelleher has been linked with a move away from Anfield this summer, with Brentford and Wolves reportedly interested in his services.

However, despite his exclusion from the side, it is being reported that Kelleher’s exclusion is simply a case of Klopp wanting to rotate and giving his goalkeepers minutes in pre-season. Kelleher’s future remains in doubt, however, with the goalkeeper thought to want more game time under his belt.

But Klopp may be eager to keep the Republic of Ireland international following Adrian’s performance against Greuther Furth. The Spaniard virtually single-handedly gave the German side an equaliser in the 48th minute as his pass was immediately intercepted and slotted home by Green. Klopp also used another ‘keeper with Adrian going off for Marcelo Pitaluga heading into the final 10 minutes.

New midfield trialed

After excelling in the no.6 role against Karlsruher, Trent Alexander-Arnold continued in the same position this time around. He was partnered by Cody Gakpo and Alexis Mac Allister in a rather different-looking midfield, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Bobby Clark in there last week.

It was a system that worked well during the first-half in particular as Alexander-Arnold often picked up deeper positions, while Gakpo and Mac Allister acted as two no.8s and joined the attacks. The trio were all taken off half-time, however, with Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and James McConnell coming on.

Szoboszlai misses out

Someone who didn’t feature for the Reds against Greuther Furth was new signing Szoboszlai. The Hungarian was left out as a precaution after Klopp confirmed he rolled his ankle in training.

Speaking before the game, Klopp said: “He rolled his ankle slightly in training, really nothing. Everybody is super-positive about it, himself first.

“If we would have today a Premier League game or whatever, he could play. So, we don’t take a risk and we will see what we will do with the Leicester game after travel [and] stuff like this. But for the Bayern game he will be ready, definitely.”

Despite it being described as a minor injury, Liverpool fans were concerned about their £60million man on social media with less than three weeks to go until their Premier League opener at Chelsea.

Szoboszlai made his Liverpool debut and played 45 minutes during their 4-2 win over Karlsruher last week. After the match, the 23-year-old admitted it was a “very proud moment” to make his Reds bow.