Throughout the next month I’ll be giving my thoughts on all of Liverpools preseason games as they get ready for the new Premier League season. As usual, the first test was away against Tranmere.

1st half:

After the departure of Daniel Sturridge, a lot of people have been talking about Rhian Brewster as the next youngster to receive a shot at first team football. I’ve mostly been of the opinion that it was too early for him after he lost all of last season to an ankle injury, but after seeing how he performed in the first half I’m all aboard the hype train. He showed everything I wanted to see from him and more: he can play with his back to goal (both holding the ball up and play a quick one-two), he can run in behind, he’s willing to press from the front and he showed a poachers instincts to score a far from easy header and was the first to react to a rebound to tuck away his second goal. A very impressive performance from him, and I will definitely be keeping an eye on him the rest of the preseason.

It was interesting to see Adam Lallana play as the holding midfielder, but I think it’s only something we will see in friendlies where we can dominate possession as much as we did today. Versatility might be the way for Lallana to secure his future at the club, so it’s good to see Klopp trying him out in different positions.

Today was my first time seeing Yasser Larouci play and he showed some encouraging signs. He’s quick, more than willing to get forward and wasn’t afraid to counterpress. I’d have liked to see some more quality in his final product and more decisiveness in getting to the byline, but overall he was a positive surprise.

2nd half:

The intensity dropped a lot in the second half, but there were still some interesting players to keep an eye on.

Ben Woodburn played in midfield, but with the players available for the match it made sense to play him there. He managed to get an assist for Curtis Jones’ 4-0 goal but didn’t do much to convince me he can push for first team football this season. I think a loan-move to a Championship club would be the best move to further his development.

Ki-Jana Hoever already made his first team debut last season and I think he has a bright future at the club. He’s good on the ball, has some size to him and he can play both as a centre back and as a right back. He wont be credited with the assist, but he showed great power to create the 6-0 goal for Bobby Duncan.

Overall it has a very positive performance and I think some of the young players did very well. Of course, the level of the opposition was very low and it’s still very early in the preseason, but it was a very convincing 6-0 win.

My Man of the Match: Rhian Brewster.