Alexis Mac Allister shows his priorities while away for first Liverpool pre-season game

Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister might still be on holiday but he appeared to be as keen as most Reds fans to see how the new-look team would set up against Real Betis in Pittsburgh.

Taking to Instagram while the match was unfolding in the USA, Mac Allister, who was signed from Brighton last summer, shared a photograph of his laptop. The 24-year-old was watching the game, which Liverpool won 1-0 thanks to a Dominik Szoboszlai goal, on LFCTV while sat next to a swimming pool.

Mac Allister will not be returning to join the pre-season preparations until the team has flown back from the USA because of his involvement in the Copa America. The Liverpool man, alongside Lionel Messi , won the tournament, beating Luis Diaz and Colombia in the final. All four Reds players who were involved in that tournament have been given extended periods of time off.

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Liverpool will continue its pre-season preparations under Arne Slot without several key men as a result. Virgil van Dijk , Trent Alexander-Arnold and the others who went far at Euro 2024 are also not yet back involved yet.

Diogo Jota , who reached the quarter-finals with Portugal, has joined his teammates but wasn't involved against Real Betis as he was only back in for the summer the day before the match. Ibrahima Konate and Ryan Gravenberch , meanwhile, will be added to the USA tour roster before its conclusion as they bid to win places in the starting XI.

In Mac Allister's absence, Wataru Endo and Curtis Jones played as a double-pivot against Real Betis. The former, however, struggled a little, while the latter limped off with an injury after around half an hour .

Liverpool.com says: If Slot is going to play with a double-pivot similar to what we saw against Real Betis then Mac Allister is perfect for that role. He needs as much of a break as possible after a long campaign but the Argentine will be a massive part of the new-look Liverpool. Once he returns, the Slot midfield department will be injected with a huge amount of quality.