Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

A look back at the key moments in Liverpool’s okay I guess draw with Las Palmas in preseason action.

Liverpool 0 - 0 Las Palmas

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Pre-Match

It’s the second of two matches today, and Liverpool’s final preseason match ahead of the new Premier League campaign. The Reds are playing Las Palmas from the Canary Islands behind closed doors, with the exception of the LFCTV Go broadcast, following an emphatic win against Sevilla. The first match featured many of the usual heavy hitters, including the return of Alisson Becker in goal, and finished up with two goals from Luis Diaz and a wonderful volley from Diogo Jota. Sevilla have historically given us problems, both in preseason and the regular season, so to beat them 4-1 helps add a little buzz to the preparations for the upcoming season.

This second match will include similar senior players, with Darwin Nunez returning alongside Cody Gakpo, Ibrahima Konate, and Andy Robertson (named captain today too!). A couple younger players like Ben Doak and Conor Bradley are given another chance to make their case for inclusion as the season goes forward. The crowds have gone away, bringing back memories of those closed doors matches in 2020, but the focus is the same.

First Half

Here we go! No moment of silence at this match as there are no fans in the stands, and the action gets underway quickly. Las Palmas get into the Liverpool third fairly early, but a chance is quickly dealt with by Konate. The visitors have proven to be a bit more difficult, as they have stretched Liverpool out quite a bit through these first ten minutes. No one can say that there’s no passion in these matches though, as a Las Palmas player goes up too high to win the ball before Harvey Elliott did, and it ends with some pushing and yellow cards for both players.

The match has fallen a bit flat since then, with no fans to push the players on, but Liverpool’s first chance comes through Nunez and Gakpo teaming up. There is definitely more of players trying to carry the ball through a packed defense. One thing is the same, and that’s Nunez scoring on a ball from Ben Doak, only to have it ruled offside.

Las Palmas have another chance in the 19th minute, getting into Liverpool’s area, and it looks like the sun has worked against Caoimhin Kelleher as he misses a catch and has Andy Robertson bail him out. Kelleher is tested not even two minutes later and makes another save, and moves the ball quickly out to start a neat counterattack that is wrangled away from Cody Gakpo at the last minute.

Play has been fairly even for both teams, with Liverpool settling into something a little less scattered than they started. We are back to low stress, low press, with both teams giving each other yards of space. Sure, this is the last match of preseason and no one wants to get injured, but one could even say that things look a little more timid in this match with the exception of Las Palmas’ high boot challenges.

Liverpool finally have a couple more chances, this time with Ben Doak unable to get the power needed to get a proper finish in. The Reds have started to take more control and push more often into the final third, taking near full control in these last fifteen minutes of the half. There has been some lovely footwork from the Reds at least, making the most of small spaces, but ultimately they haven’t been able to find the back of the net. Okay I’ll just say it, this half was boring.

Second Half

The second half gets underway without any changes, surprisingly, considering Andy Robertson is coming off of injury but he’s gotten the greenlight to keep going. Kaide Gordon was warming up as well so it is likely we’ll see the youngster come on at some point too. We’re back to more of the same almost subdued play, even with things moving from one end to the other. The counterpress has started to kick in as Liverpool fight their way back to the areas, with two chances that can’t be finished. They’re certainly trying harder, knocking at the door as they say, with Elliott taking a shot from outside the box (ugh) that goes just too high (double ugh).

Liverpool makes their first change in the 60th minute, with Andy Robertson coming off for Calum Scanlon, just after the captain has two shots denied by fate with one hitting the woodwork and the other just avoiding the target. Even Nat Phillips made to bleed by Ollie McBurnie is less exciting despite the return of the head bandage as play continues through his treatment. Is it too late to train him as our holding midfielder so we can save £60 million?

Despite the snoozefest, the defense has been comfortable for this whole match with Konate calmly handling whatever challenges he’s faced with. Liverpool make a couple more changes not long after, with Phillips officially coming off for Amaro Nallo, Nunez making way for Harvey Blair, and Gakpo coming off for Tyler Morton. So now most of the senior players have all come off, with a few exceptions like Elliott, Konate, Endo, and Curtis Jones. Here’s hoping the eager to impress youngsters can inject some excitement into this match. Morton in particular actually featured in the earlier match against Sevilla, but apparently is well enough to come on here too!

Ben Doak has really been one of the standouts today, even if he’s been unlucky to not find the goal. He’s made every effort but just has been poor at shooting, more than once shooting it directly at another player. With all of their control, Liverpool have really just not been able to get something over the line and the time is running out to do something. Las Palmas on the other hand have decided to get even more physical in their desperation to make something happen for themselves.

You can’t even give Las Palmas a whole lot of credit here when we haven’t been able to score because of our own luck.

Final Thoughts

They didn’t but neither did Las Palmas, so it’s sort of a win? Not a particularly memorable outing that even felt like a training match most of the time, but it officially marks the end of preseason. Bring on Ipswich next weekend and the new Arne Slot Premier League era.