In four weeks, Liverpool will take on Ipswich Town as the Arne Slot era gets underway. That will be the Dutchman's first Premier League game in charge, with his first competitive Anfield fixture coming a week later against Brentford.
As part of its preparations for the new campaign, Liverpool played a behind-closed-doors friendly against Preston North End on Friday. You can read a report on what happened here and also go more in-depth with what we learned here . Then there is Arne Slot's verdict on the match and also a gallery of all the best photographs from the 90 minutes.
But what key takeaways can we glean from pre-season so far? While there are still 11 senior players to return from their post-Euro 2024 and Copa America break, we got a short glimpse of Slot's side in Kirkby.
READ MORE: 5 things we noticed in Liverpool's behind-closed-doors friendly game vs Preston
READ MORE: Arne Slot reacts to Liverpool defeat to Preston as new boss makes 'important' point
Here are the three lessons that Liverpool.com has taken from the first friendly of the summer. The countdown to the visit to Portman Road has certainly begun...
Young Liverpool talents impress
Amara Nallo and Trey Nyoni were among the youngest players to be involved in this game. Kaide Gordon and Ben Doak also impressed, with the latter looking really sharp after missing Euro 2024 through injury.
Doak played off the left in the first-half team. Early in the game, he chopped inside a couple of times to tee up teammates on the edge of the box. He's direct and his quick feet are a real threat.
Rio Ngumoha and Alvin Ayman are expected to join the Reds from Chelsea and Wolves respectively this summer. The chances for young talent to flourish will continue under the new regime and this was another timely reminder.
Lesson 1: Physically, 18-year-old Doak is absolutely ready for a loan move. The question is whether he might get enough minutes at Anfield next season to justify remaining with Slot and Liverpool.
Arne Slot style coming together... but there is an issue
Clearly, you cannot take too much from a friendly organized mainly for fitness purposes, but while the scoreline didn't reflect it, it is important to note that Liverpool was dominant here. There were some quick passing moves and Preston was restricted to having only one shot on goal: the 40-yard effort that Robbie Brady clipped into the back of the net off the crossbar.
"After two weeks of tough training sessions, it's important to play a game as well," Slot told LFCTV post-match. "The most important thing was that everybody was fit before the game and they stayed fit during the game as well.
"It has been a good two weeks. Unfortunately, the result today was not what we wanted but they stayed fit, many of them got minutes, and I saw a lot of young players who got a few minutes. That is a good thing."
"Definitely," Slot responded when asked if he was seeing the things on the pitch that the team has been working on in training. "I've seen this a lot during the training sessions; a bit more than today but they also had to deal with the playing style of the opponent."
Lesson 2: Slot will know that when more senior players return, the quality level will amp up even more. But it is a worry that so many stars will have such a short turnaround before the new campaign begins .
Slot will likely only have a couple of weeks to work with the likes of Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Diaz. Getting his ways across to them will be tricky in that time, plus it's hardly any break after a draining season. Slot's style is an exciting one and it will be fascinating to see just how different it is from what Jurgen Klopp implemented. For the bulk of the Liverpool squad, though, there will be a delay.
It's all about transfers for some people
As soon as some on social media read the scoreline, the reaction was inevitable. Liverpool, thankfully, will be a lot calmer and level-headed about the whole thing.
Given there are so many players who are missing because of major international tournaments, this is far from the Liverpool team that will start the Premier League opener in a month. Being so dominant with a very young side is actually quite impressive.
Lesson 3: Those who crave transfers above even wins and trophies will not be satisfied until some money is splashed, but the reality is that the result here was irrelevant. It was, though, another reminder that it doesn't take much before a social media meltdown ensues.
Richard Hughes said openly that August was more likely to see a flurry of activity across the English top flight. There's nothing like a good moan, though, for some parts of the internet!
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