1) Salah still adjusting after that shoulder injury

It took Mohamed Salah one minute to announce his return to the Liverpool team in trademark fashion, equalising in the 2-1 win against Manchester City in New Jersey on his first club outing since the Champions League final. His 32-minute contribution against Pep Guardiola’s young and impressive side also showed that Salah’s ability to elevate the collective performance remains intact following the shoulder injury sustained against Real Madrid and a post-World Cup holiday. He also oozed confidence in the comprehensive 4-1 defeat of Manchester United on Saturday.

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Physically, Salah is 100% fit following the shoulder injury. Psychologically, however, there is still work to be done before the Premier League season begins. As Jürgen Klopp explained on the tour: “We spoke before the [City] game and he said his shoulder was completely fine but I need to get used to it again. As a football player, if you want to come forward and do that [puts his arm across a player] then you can’t do that in rehab. I said: ‘I don’t need you at 100%, play smart, don’t be in enclosed situations with four defenders around you’, and it was really nice how he did that.”

2) Curtis Jones grabs his chance to impress

One of the stand-out performers against Dortmund and City was gifted attacking midfielder Curtis Jones, a 17-year-old “living the dream” of playing for his boyhood club. The Liverpool-born teenager started last season in the under-18s team then managed by Steven Gerrard, debuted for the under-23s in January and ended the campaign in Klopp’s first‑team squad. The rapid upward trajectory of Jones’s career continued in the US. Starting on the left of Liverpool’s attack, the academy graduate was composed and incisive in possession, quick and full of tricks. He then appeared as a marauding right‑back as a late substitute against United.

The growing maturity in his game was also evident in his movement and defensive work without the ball, an improvement he credited to the Liverpool manager. “Jürgen has definitely helped me on the other side of the game in terms of defending and tackling, getting back and helping the team,” he said. “He has got me fitter as a player. I feel like I can last a lot longer in games now, playing at the tempo I want to be at.” Jones promises to be another valuable option for Klopp this season.

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3) There is no respite for Loris Karius

The Liverpool goalkeeper cannot catch a break at present. Days before the tour began his hold on the No 1 spot was ended by the £65m acquisition of the Brazil international Alisson, a deal that Klopp confirmed he would have pursued irrespective of the Champions League final. In the first game against Borussia Dortmund Karius was culpable for the final goal in a 3-1 defeat and responded to some vile social media criticism afterwards. “To those who take joy in seeing other people fail or suffer, I feel for you,” he wrote on Instagram. “Whatever it is that’s happening in your life to hold this much anger and hate, I pray that it passes and good things come to you.” He also claimed in Charlotte that he was upset at being kept in the dark by Klopp over Alisson’s signing and may consider his future, an admission that gained little sympathy from his manager. “Listen, I didn’t walk through the dressing room and tell the midfielders that I was signing Fabinho or Naby Keïta,” said Klopp.

Karius kept a clean sheet in his 45 minutes against Manchester City but got an indication of what would await him next season when a routine catch and save from distance received ironic cheers. A knee injury then put him out of the final game against Manchester United. On Monday, Alisson joins the squad in Evian.

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4) Joe Gomez winning the race to start against West Ham

With Joel Matip leaving the tour early for treatment on a thigh injury sustained against Dortmund and Dejan Lovren not back from a post-World Cup final holiday until 6 August, there is a vacancy on the right side of Liverpool’s central defence for the start of the new Premier League season. Joe Gomez, fit again after undergoing ankle surgery in May and missing both the Champions League final plus World Cup as a consequence, appears to be leading the race for that spot.

Klopp played Virgil van Dijk on the right and Ragnar Klavan on the left at times on the tour but the team were better balanced with a Gomez‑Van Dijk partnership. The manager was also regularly effusive in his praise of the 21-year-old’s performances in the US. When asked after the United win whether he would sign another defender before the transfer deadline, Klopp replied: “No, I’m happy with our players and don’t see the need. Joe Gomez, in his role in central defence, combines a lot of qualities you won’t find in the transfer market.”

5) Klopp is aiming for a flying start

It is a statement of the obvious to say all managers desire a good start to a campaign but Klopp’s pre-season programme appears designed to not only build fitness for the months ahead but to ensure his team come flying out of the blocks. The Liverpool manager kept the squad’s time in the United States to a minimum, arriving in Charlotte the day before the defeat by Dortmund and flying home immediately after the victory over United in Michigan.

The swift departure was so that Liverpool could have an extra day’s work at this week’s training camp in Evian, originally planned for Tuesday but now starting Monday. Alisson, Roberto Firmino and possibly Trent Alexander-Arnold will be in France to take the Liverpool squad almost to full strength. Klopp referenced the impact of the World Cup and the lengthier absentee lists at Tottenham, City and United several times on the tour. His squad is healthier by comparison and, mindful of how City left their rivals trailing at the start of last season, he is aiming to follow suit against West Ham, Crystal Palace, Brighton and Leicester City before the first international break.