Liverpool 3 Torino 1: Roberto Firmino strikes as Reds wrap up pre-season with a win on Alisson's Anfield home debut

1/27
David Lynch7 August 2018

Liverpool wrapped up their preparations for the new season with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Torino at Anfield on Tuesday evening.

The Reds, who kickstart their 2018-19 campaign against West Ham United this weekend, made light work of their Italian opponents as they enjoyed the ideal warm-up for a season that promises so much.

Roberto Firmino opened the scoring in the first half after Fabinho's penalty miss, before Georginio Wijnaldum made it two to cap a 45-minute performance that could book his place in Sunday's starting XI.

And, though Andrea Belotti pulled one back for the Reds before the break with a powerful header, the hosts quickly reasserted their control and confirmed their victory through Daniel Sturridge's sixth goal of pre-season late on.

Action Images via Reuters

With the Premier League kick-off so close, Jurgen Klopp named something of a surprisingly strong starting XI upon his side's return home.

Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Firmino all featured, while big-money summer signings Naby Keita, Fabinho and Alisson Becker were handed their home debuts.

It took little time for quality of the initial line-up to tell, with Salah going close to turning a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross before Mane's quick feet earned a somewhat soft penalty.

However, the referee's generosity mattered little when Fabinho stepped up and arrowed his first spot-kick for the club wide of the post.

Action Images via Reuters

That miss quickly proved to be inconsequential, too, with Firmino smashing home a deflected strike four minutes later as a result of Salah finding space for an assist courtesy of a fine touch and pass from Wijnaldum.

EPA

The Dutchman then turned goalscorer, timing a late run from deep to latch onto Firmino's through-pass and finishing coolly in the box.

Action Images via Reuters

Torino reduced the arrears on the half-hour mark, Belotti sending a bullet header beyond Alisson after Lorenzo Di Silvestri had escaped the attentions of Alberto Moreno to cross.

But the goal proved to be a brief respite from Liverpool pressure, with the impressive Wijnaldum denied by the outstretched foot of Salvatore Sirigu moments later following a speedy exchange with Salah.

And even seven changes at half-time did little to break the pattern of the game, with the hosts' new-found depth on show as they pressed for a third goal from the off.

Danny Ings was the recipient of the first two opportunities, but failed to get clean contact on a left-footed shot just inside the box before slipping at the vital moment when trying to give an Alexander-Arnold pick-out the finish it deserved.

Sturridge was less forgiving when he got on the end of Shaqiri's inch-perfect dink in behind four minutes from time, placing the deftest of headers into beyond Sirigu's despairing to dive to put the seal on the win.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in