5 talking points as Liverpool come from two down to smash seven past Blackpool

Liverpool were given a fright by League One Blackpool before battling back to win their final pre-season friendly before the start of the Premier League season.

The Reds trailed 2-0 to their former under-23 coach Neil Critchley’s side thanks to a strike from CJ Hamilton and a penalty from Jerry Yates.

But the Premier League champions got themselves back into the game with a header from Joel Matip from a corner shortly before the break, before a burst of four goals in 20 minutes in the second half.

Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Harvey Elliott, Takumi Minamino all struck, with Divock Origi and Sepp van den Berg adding further goals to cap a 7-2 success.

Here are the game’s talking points.

1. A steep learning curve for Billy Koumetio

With Dejan Lovren having left and the Reds not really being strongly linked with a move for another central defender, there has been plenty of pre-season positivity around Billy Koumetio.

There’s just one problem with that though.

Koumetio is 17.

The young Frenchman has been talked up in pre-season as his displays on his first outings in senior football have impressed, but this served as a reminder that he’s still very raw.

His dallying on the ball was punished early on when Hamilton raced away and fired away into the corner at the near post for Blackpool’s opener.

Critics shouldn’t be too harsh on Koumetio, but this was a lesson learned.

2. Jurgen Klopp gets the message across

With Anfield empty and echoes being heard around the ground, the unmistakable voice of Klopp could be heard bellowing from the sidelines.

The Reds boss was not a happy man as his team went 2-0 down to the League One side, and he certainly let his team know it.

Klopp clearly shouted “Win a challenge! Start winning challenges! Be in the right place! Move!” at one point as his team struggled to make their presence felt.

They listened to him though, and quickly got themselves back into the game.

3. Joel Matip makes his mark

There was a return at the back for Matip, who impressed with his defensive work as well as his goal.

The Cameroonian only played for 45 minutes of the match at Anfield, but his appearance would have seen him develop an element of match sharpness and fitness that he’s going to need going forward.

The games are going to come thick and fast for the Reds in the coming weeks, and Matip will certainly be needed.

4. Liverpool get to go through the gears

You don’t ever want to go 2-0 down of course, and Klopp and his coaches will have taken note of the errors that led to Liverpool ‘s first-half demise, but what the deficit did do was allow Liverpool to dial up the intensity as they came back.

The Reds have been renowned for their resilience under this German manager, and as an exercise this ended up having plenty of value as their attacking talents got to break down a stubborn low block defence.

Naby Keita was especially key to this, and you can expect the Guinean to start next week against Leeds.

5. The coming of Harvey Elliott?

There are those with connections to Liverpool who say that Elliott is going to play a slightly bigger role than many might expect in the coming season.

While there remains talk of Liverpool bringing in a new player to supplement the front three, there are many at the club who feel that the 17-year-old has got what it takes to do just that.

He took his goal well here, and you can expect to see a bit more of him in the coming weeks.