After fielding mixed sides against Preston, Stoke and AC Milan with the focus being on fitness, the approach changed for Arne Slot as Liverpool took on Yokohama.
Slot had balanced his selection for Liverpool’s first three friendlies of pre-season, knowing that he would change the majority of his starting lineup at half-time in each.
But after building up their fitness with intense sessions in the heat of Hong Kong and Japan, it was arguably Slot’s strongest available side that took to the pitch at the Nissan Stadium on Wednesday.
Granted, Alisson‘s absence due to a personal matter prompted backup Giorgi Mamardashvili to start, while Alexis Mac Allister was only fit enough for half an hour in his first game back.
Liverpool’s strongest available XI started
Beyond those two it was as strong as it could currently get, with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate back together at centre-back, Ryan Gravenberch in the No. 6 role, Florian Wirtz as No. 10 and Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo on the wings.
There were also nods to Slot’s favoured starters in a number of roles with question marks over them heading into the summer.
Conor Bradley was selected over Jeremie Frimpong at right-back while new signing Milos Kerkez started ahead of Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas at left-back.
Dominik Szoboszlai was deployed in his favoured No. 8 position and Hugo Ekitike made his unofficial debut to lead the line instead of Darwin Nunez.
Though there are two more friendlies to come, back-to-back against Athletic Club at Anfield, provided Alisson is able to return Liverpool’s starting lineup for the Community Shield on August 10 is now fairly straightforward.
That is likely to be: Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike.
Of course things can change, and not least if Liverpool are able to strike a British record agreement with Newcastle for their striker Alexander Isak, who is more of a plug-in-and-go option as starting No. 9.
But for all intents and purposes Slot could be considered to have already settled on his go-to XI for the start of the campaign proper.
Selection ‘headaches’
However, over 90-plus minutes in Yokohama that saw Liverpool navigate an awful pitch and an opponent already more than halfway through their season, the Dutchman could have spotted a number of headaches on the horizon.
Chief among those will have been an eye-catching display from Frimpong at right-back: the £29.5 million signing from Bayer Leverkusen was sharp and dynamic, ever willing to showcase his devastating pace, and architect of Trey Nyoni‘s goal to make it 2-1.
While Bradley is clearly more settled in the squad and the expectations of Slot’s system, he was not the most effective of the two right-backs used on Wednesday.
There could also be a doubt over whether Kerkez should be an immediate starter over Robertson, who has continued to stake his claim in pre-season and helped propel the counter that led to Rio Ngumoha‘s stunning solo strike.
In midfield, while many had already ruled Szoboszlai out of their ideal XIs following the club-record deal for Wirtz, the Hungarian’s tempo-setting displays in a slightly deeper role could instead challenge Mac Allister’s grip on the No. 8 spot.
That particular situation will almost certainly be more fluid than others, not least as Gravenberch will be suspended for the opening game of the Premier League season at home to Bournemouth.
It will no doubt be argued by some that Ngumoha, the precocious 16-year-old winger who has already scored twice this pre-season, should be starting ahead of Gakpo on the left flank, but Slot is unlikely to be as emphatic in his selection.
“Rio, again, showed the quality he has and that’s nice for us,” the head coach told his post-match press conference.
“We have a lot of very good players, but to get some very good players through the academy is always helpful, always gives energy to a team as well.
“It’s always nice to see young players from 16, 17 or 18 years old already impacting a game.
“But there was also a moment in the game where he should have squared it to Macca or Curtis, so also learning points for him.
“But if you are 16 and you can impact the game like he did, that’s definitely worth a compliment.”
Exactly what Slot wants
In reality, this will be the scenario Slot had been hoping for heading into Liverpool’s unexpectedly busy summer transfer window.
It has been maintained that the head coach, emboldened by his statement Premier League title triumph, is seeking two top options for each position in his squad.
That means more competition for places and a less predictable starting lineup; the key names may remain, but there will be more rotation during a campaign in which Liverpool will hope to challenge for even more silverware including the Champions League.
The notion of a selection headache is one managers have scoffed at ever since the term was coined, because having more top-quality players than you can fit into one XI is always better than not having enough.
Liverpool’s designs on a deal for Isak and the scope for further additions at centre-back and perhaps even in the wide forward areas means those tough decisions will only increase for Slot heading towards the transfer deadline and beyond.
This can only be a positive for the champions, as with last season’s surefire starters less certain of their place in the side it should spur them on to an even higher level of performance throughout 2025/26.
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