Liverpool 3 Athletic Bilbao 1: Reds end impressive pre-season with win but defensive mistakes remain

That's it! Solanke nearly gets a second goal but tries to back-heel to Mane and trips over the ball. Liverpool look ready for proper football. 

The tempo has slowed right down with Athletic happy to pass the ball around the back and run the clock down. Liverpool press high and force the goalkeeper to kick it long.

Liverpool buzzing with confidence. One touch passes all over the pitch.

Liverpool 3 (Solanke 80')- 1 Athletic Bilbao

Genius. That's absolutely magic from Liverpool, and Klavan and Solanke in particular. Klavan can see the run he wants the forwards to make and waits, waits, waits until it opens up and curls a perfect cross into the area. Solanke pulls away, leaps and puts the header back across the goal into the back of the net. 

Solanke has been really good since coming on. He twists and turns on the right, moves into the space and whips a ball into the box which the panicked defence nearly turns into their own goal. Nothing comes from the corner. The crowd is enjoying a Mexican wave just now. They're enjoying themselves.

Mane pulls off a couple of dummies to keep Liverpool attacks flowing and the crowd absolutely loves it. Ejaria has a smart turn, Woodburn links play, the ball goes back to the defenders. 

There's a momentary delay in play as, I think, someone runs onto the pitch and security have to deal with it. Jurgen Klopp seems to find the whole thing very funny, as do the crowd. I can't tell you what because the director decided not to give whoever/whatever any coverage.

 

Great challenge by Gomez. He reacts first, gets to the ball quickly and slides in hard - but fair - to win a 50/50 and keep Liverpool on the attack. Robertson is playing as a left winger at the moment! 

Liverpool are controlling the pitch and were it not for the occasional error by the youngsters, would have Athletic seriously worried. Mane tries a snapshot from 35 yards but the goalkeeper can catch easily.

That's a photograph from the first half, in case you were confused. Mane skins one defender with a little stepover but can't reach the ball before the second defender slides in to take it off him.

Liverpool 2 (Woodburn 59') - 1 Athletic Bilbao

That is absolutely brilliant. Klavan brings the ball out from the back, finds Robertson on the left and he waits for Solanke to burst forward into space - which he does - and plays a perfectly weight through-ball. Solanke's run is excellent, he gets to the box and pulls a low pass back to the edge of the box for Woodburn, who fakes to shoot, moves it onto his left foot and rattles a powerful shot into the back of the net. 

Klopp is frustrated on the sidelines and gesturing angrily to his team who are disjointed at the moment. Ejaria is easily dispossessed in the centre of the pitch and the counter is on... but Liverpool recover well. Possession being swapped like panini stickers at a convention, or another better analogy.

Liverpool have it now, the ball is on the right, swung into the area and Mane is there! He puts his foot through the ball and turns away to celebrate but the goalkeeper has pulled off a wondersave! 

Cordoba is through on goal! Another disastrous attempt to play out from the back by Liverpool and Athletic win the ball high up the pitch, one pass puts Cordoba into attack mode... but his shot is straight down the middle of the goal. Saved.

Woodburn's not quite in the game yet. He's given the ball away and been easily tackled but is usually played higher up the pitch so perhaps he's having to adapt to a new, deeper role in midfield. 

 

There's absolutely no change in style from Liverpool 2.0 though are a little looser in midfield now. Woodburn gives away a silly pass.

Jon Flanagan is captain! That's nice for him. Solanke gets the second half started.

 Mignolet is the only player to remain from the first half. 

Brilliant opening spell from Liverpool but Athletic appear to have sussed them out and are in control. A draw is very fair at this stage.

Liverpool are in trouble again! They've switched off and Athletic are playing some really nice passing football. They're in control of the ball and threatening... but it looks like half time is going to bail Klopp's side out.

Athletic press high up the pitch as Liverpool try to pass out from the back and the midfield isn't moving enough to give a passing option. Lovren gets stuck with absolutely nobody to pass to and has to quickly boot the ball down the line, giving away possession. The movement they had earlier has just disappeared - it's impossible for a team to play out from the back if players aren't in space and available.

Grujic heads over from close range from that corner. He has to win the header by running in front of his marker, does so... but can't keep it down.

Moreno is a different player at the moment. He pops up in another great position, swapping roles with Firmino and darts into the box, skinning one defender and trying to poke the ball underneath the goalkeeper from close range at the front post. The goalie saves. Great play though from Moreno - there is hope for him yet.

Liverpool are in trouble again! Mignolet does well to close down Cordoba as he gets in behind the defence. The forward goes round the keeper but is pushed wide and then hits a cross back into the area which nobody can make use of. Moreno is fouled and Liverpool escape. 

Origi is forced wide by a misplaced pass and then pulls off a five star FIFA 17 skill move to turn his man and puts the ball back in the area. Corner.

Liverpool are building play patiently again, using Matip and Lovren as a passing outlet before pinging chipped balls out to Moreno or Alexander-Arnold.  

Liverpool 1 - 1 (Williams 30') Atheletic Bilbao

Lovren doesn't cut out a through-ball, and is too deep in his starting position anyway, allowing Williams to nip in, cut onto his left foot and finish low past Mignolet. Well taken! Great composure from Williams.

Alexander-Arnold screams in anger as he fails to catch a switched diagonal pass out to the right. I'd have given up on it about five minutes before he did. That's what you call desire, ladies and gentlemen. 

It could very well be another penalty for Liverpool as Moreno sprints to chase the ball before it goes out of play, runs across the defender and goes down. He knows he's not getting it and laughs.

 Liverpool are passing out from the back and winning the ball high up the pitch. They've looked really impressive in pre-season, particularly in how well everyone moves on the pitch. It's really fluid and players swap positions, move into space and know their roles inside out. 

But suddenly they've been caught out! A loose pass gives Athletic the chance to break and Williams has two players to his left, waits for the right moment and finds the striker. He stretches to shoot and puts it wide. Big chance!

James Milner is on the pitch - is that a change of the guard for Liverpool? Is Firmino the new penalty taker? 

Liverpool attack quickly again and overload Athletic's defence. Salah cuts onto his left and tries to place a shot in the bottom corner but doesn't get enough power on it. Saved.

 

Liverpool 1 (Firmino pen 21') - 0 Athletic Bilbao

Firmino strikes it low, hard and in the bottom corner. The goalkeeper gets a hand to the ball but it's been struck well and hits the back of the net.

Williams goes ito a slide tackle on Grujic and does well to pull out of it, bashing his shin on the Liverpool midfielder's shin. His foot was pretty high there... in a real game you wouldn't be shocked to see a red card there. 

PENALTY TO LIVERPOOL!

Liverpool attack and have Athletic on the back foot. The ball is switched to the left, Firmino ghosts in behind the defender and is pulled to the ground. Clear penalty!

Oooohhhh and it might be 1-0 again. Great play by Moreno who bombs down the wing, plays an early, low cross into the middle and Salah runs onto it. He moves into the channel and then smartly chips an early ball to the back post. It's a more of a lofted cross and Origi has to generate power in his header to get the shot away but aims wide.

Firmino and Salah take a corner quickly but Salah has to work extra hard to reach the loose pass and his cross is poor as a result. Athletic try to break, Can is fouled. 

 The commentator on this game on LFC TV is pronouncing various European club names in the accent and pronounciation that they would have in their home countries. It's really weird. Like calling Inter Milan "Internazionale" but while doing an impression of a very Italian person. 

It should be 1-0. Brilliant play from Liverpool - it's one touch play, pass and move, and Origi is one on one with the goalkeeper but shoots wide of the post. What a goal that would have been. And should have been.

Williams is clean through on goal! It's a great run from the Spaniard but he's just offside and can't finish past Mignolet anyway. Salah has been taking up some central positions early on and links play beautifully with some little backheel flicks near the Athletic box, then takes the ball on his left and tries to bend a shot towards the far corner from a difficult angle. Great effort but it doesn't hit the target, nor can Origi get a head to it.

Mignolet has to adjust his feet quickly as he gets a back pass from Matip and is nearly caught out by a chasing striker. 

Please spare a thought for the poor cameraman and director, who have to work out a way to broadcast a third of the pitch flooded in bright light. I have no idea what's going on when Liverpool - in white - get the ball on that side of the pitch.  

Liverpool pressing high, Can wins it in the final third and Coutinho is unlucky not to get a pass across the box to set up a scoring chance. Moreno passes the ball straight out of play.

And we're off!

They're out on the pitch and now it's time for that famous Liverpool song. This is basically a home game for Liverpool.

Here's a video I've made about Liverpool's usual tactics. There's quite a lot to cram into two minutes so please go easy on me.

 

It's almost as if lots of people in Ireland support Liverpool. Jason McAteer loves it and is doing some excellent banter as a touchline pundit for LFC TV. I still think we need some sort of keyboard symbol that works as a sarcasm indicator.

 

 

What is it?

It's Liverpool's final pre-season game! The real action starts next week but Jurgen Klopp will use this game as a way to gauge just how prepared his side is for the first competitive kick-off of the season.

When is it?

It's tonight, which is Saturday 5th August.

Where is it?

At Dublin's Aviva Stadium. 

What time is kick-off?

That would be 5:15pm BST, or 17:15 if you prefer 24 hour time.

What TV channel is it on?

If you have a LFC TV subscription then you can enjoy it online or on your television. If you don't, then I'm afraid you're out of luck, mate. But don't fret! You can follow all the action here in our liveblog - JJ Bull will bring you updates from 5pm.

What's the team news?

Adam Lallana will miss out after picking up an injury against Napoli that could keep him on the sidelines for "a couple of months" but Daniel Sturridge should make the game, with the muscle tweak he suffered when scoring against Bayern believed to be nothing serious.

What should I look out for?

Klopp has been giving quite a lot of minutes to some of the younger players in his squad and this could be a great chance to spot the stars of the future. Trent Alexander-Arnold appears to be first choice right-back at the moment, with injury to Nathaniel Clyne keeping him out of the team, and is a great watch.

Ryan Kent made a real impression in the friendly win over Bayern Munich and the very highly rated Ben Woodburn is on the verge of breaking into the first team squad too.

Liverpool might need one of those talented academy graduates to step up soon, especially with the Coutinho to Barcelona rumours which will only get louder now that they have £200million lying around the place and a giant Neymar shaped hole.

Mo Salah will make his first appearance at Anfield and we might see another home debut from Andy Robertson.

What about the other team?

Aritz Aduriz is the goalscorer in the side, finding form and international recognition at the age of (now) 36. Age is but a number, my friends, and towards the other end of the footballer spectrum is Inaki Williams, a very exciting (and extremely quick) winger.

Football Manager fans may enjoy the sight of Iker Muniain, a former wonderkid in the game. He hasn't quite developed into the Spanish Messi that they'd hoped but wears the number 10 shirt at Athletic Bilbao and is a major threat to Liverpool's goal.

Beñat Etxebarria is a tidy midfielder too.

Who's going to win?

Liverpool. Probably. It doesn't matter at all but they look red hot at the moment and will want to end pre-season on a high.

What are the odds?

Liverpool to win: 9/20

Athletic Bilbao to win: 13/2

Draw: 16/5

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