Club Friendly
Result: Liverpool 0-3 Napoli
Date: 28 July 2019
Venue: Murrayfield Stadium
Liverpool stretched their winless run to four matches in pre-season after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Napoli at Murrayfield Stadium on Sunday evening.
With the Community Shield match against Manchester City only a week away, the Reds named an unchanged side from their 2-2 draw against Sporting Lisbon on Thursday, but were still without superstars Mahamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who were all given an extended time-off after participating in international competitions with their national teams. The sides were creating chances in the early stages but the Italian outfit drew first blood in the 17th minute through Lorenzo Insigne, who netted with a low strike from outside the box after a quick counter-attack. Napoli had the momentum after going ahead which resulted in Arkadiusz Milik doubling their lead in the 28th minute with a left-footed shot from the centre of the box following a cross from Insigne. The European champions had a good attacking spell in the latter stages of the first stanza as Joel Matip almost pulled a goal back in first half stoppage time, but his header sailed wide of the upright. Napoli started the second stanza brightly and bagged a third goal seven minutes into the second stanza courtesy of Amin Younes' close range finish after a quick attack. The Reds were struggling to penetrate the Serie A side in the last third and were resorting to long range strikes which were not accurate enough. Adam Lallana was one of those who tried his luck from outside the box with ten minutes remaining for the Premier League outfit, but he could not find the target, following a corner. Harry Wilson almost netted a consolation goal for Liverpool in the last minute of regulation time with a left-footed strike from just outside the box but his effort was smothered by goalkeeper Alex Meret as the encounter finished 3-0 in favour of Carlo Ancelotti's men. Liverpool will come up against Olympique Lyon in midweek for their final friendly match before taking on City in the Community Shield next Sunday.
