Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool easily dispatched their Championship opponents as they prepare for the return of Premier League football.
Liverpool got their first taste of something resembling competitive action today following three months of football being put on hold by coronavirus when Jürgen Klopp’s side took on Blackburn in a warm up match ahead of next week’s restart.
The result, a 6-0 drubbing of the 10th place side in the Championship—only three points back of the promotion playoff places and targeting a chance at promotion when the second tier of English football resumes—was, at the least, encouraging.
“It was a really important test,” Klopp said of the match, that as with many pre-season games for the Reds saw a split lineup with all but three players limited to 45 minutes. “It looked really good, obviously, pretty much from the beginning.
“You have to get used again to playing against a deep-defending side and Blackburn had a build-up from time to time, so we could work on the high press as well. So the football was really good, the goals were nice, and it was a really good afternoon.”
The game saw Sadio Mané, Naby Keïta, and Takumi Minamino score in the first half as part of the stronger Liverpool side while Joël Matip Ki-Jana Hoever, and Leighton Clarkson came on to score against Blackburn in the second half of the warm-up.
Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson were both held out of the match as a precautionary measure, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain picked up a minor knock during it, but all three are expected to be in contention to face Everton a week from Sunday.
“Shape is important, form and things like this are important of course, but it is attitude. It is work-rate,” Klopp added. “In the first game, we don’t have to be football-wise on our highest level, but we need to show that we are ready for competition.
“That’s what we have to be, and I saw that today. The boys really did well and that’s how they’ve looked since we’ve been back—and how they looked before we were away. So: so far, so good.”
