Liverpool played the first friendly of their Far East tour on Saturday as they came up against AC Milan in Hong Kong.

The Reds have been hard at work in training over the past week, and had the chance to put that into practice at the Kai Tak Stadium.

Although there were plenty of bright spots in the performance, Liverpool were ultimately beaten 4-2 as their vulnerability on the counter-attack hindered them throughout the game,

Rafael Leao was the biggest problem for the Reds, with the Portuguese scoring a brilliant goal and providing an assist for Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

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Liverpool fans were impressed with Leao’s performance and suggested he could be an interesting replacement for Luis Diaz.

But, despite the result, there were also some good displays from those in red.

And former Liverpool striker Neil Mellor picked out one of those who stood out on the day.



Photo by Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

Pre-season is not about the results, although it is never nice to be on the receiving end of a defeat.

The Reds fans in the stadium far outnumbered those supporting AC Milan, and they will have been disappointed to see their team lose.

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Nevertheless, they were treated to an excellent performance from Florian Wirtz, as well as a quite stunning Dominik Szoboszlai goal.

And although Wirtz may take much of the focus, Mellor chose to put the spotlight on Szoboszlai during the half time break on LFCTV.

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“He knows exactly what he’s doing there,” raved the pundit.

I thought he really impressed at Preston, and I think he was one of the standout players on the pitch today again, and the goal shows what he can produce in those areas.

“I think he’s a player who can hit double figures, a player who was more advanced last season, whether he might play a bit deeper this season, but he’s got goals in his locker and he showed that quality there.”

Wirtz’s arrival as Liverpool’s most advanced midfielder has led to many omitting Szoboszlai from their best Reds’ XI’s.

However, as the 24-year-old showed on Saturday, he is more than capable of slotting in to play a deeper-lying role.

Often rotating with Wirtz, Szoboszlai was at the heart of everything good Liverpool did during the first half.

His goal was wonderfully taken, and showcased what he can do when starting from further back on the pitch.

Szoboszlai played at right-back in Liverpool’s behind closed doors friendly against Stoke City last week.

With the season even yet to begin, Arne Slot is already showing that the Hungarian can be his tool for all occasions next term.