Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Athletic Club in their second friendly of the day was a match heavily marked by Cody Gakpo‘s presence, with the Dutchman scoring at both ends.
Liverpool 3-2 Athletic Club
Pre-Season Friendly (5), Anfield
August 4, 2025
Goals
Salah 14′ (assist: Ekitike)
Sancet 29′
Gakpo 55′
Gakpo OG 64′
Gakpo 70′
Team news
After Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez and Andy Robertson had all featured in the first friendly of the day, they sat the 8pm fixture out.
Among those also not involved were Virgil van Dijk, Conor Bradley and Alisson. The captain was ill and the goalkeeper missing for personal reasons, while Bradley was revealed as injured by Arne Slot before the match.
On the pitch, Giorgi Mamardashvili played in goal with a back four ahead of Jeremie Frimpong, Wataru Endo, Ibrahima Konate and Milos Kerkez.
In midfield were Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch, as Florian Wirtz took up a slightly more advanced position behind the front three of Mo Salah, Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo.
First Half
The vast majority of the crowd remained at Anfield following the Reds’ earlier 4-1 victory, to watch the main attractions take to the stage.
While the concourses mightn’t have had enough food to go around, the fans were still in fine voice as they sang You’ll Never Walk Alone for the third time of the evening.
Liverpool instantly looked to start quickly and nearly had the opening goal after six minutes, when a swift counter-attack finished on the head of Wirtz, but the German just wasn’t tall enough to keep his effort down.
Salah was on form from the start, deceiving the opposition defenders with a perfectly-weighted pass that Gakpo failed to convert.
The Egyptian then made up for his teammate’s miss, shortly after, calmly finishing inside the box. From there, the Reds created chances at a rate of knots and cut through the opposing black shirts at will.
That didn’t prevent the visitors from having their own attacks, however, Oihan Sancet equalising from close range after a free-kick was dropped into Liverpool’s area.
Half-time: Liverpool 1-1 Athletic Club
Second Half
As the natural light faded, Liverpool emerged for the second half and were drawn into a closer contest.
Gakpo scored the Reds’ second, a rebound from Gravenberch’s low, driven shot, and immediately after, the front line changed.
With the Anfield crowd having taken to Ekitike’s fluent link-up play, the Frenchman went off for Chiesa.
Though he is rumoured to be leaving, it became immediately apparent the Kop’s love for Liverpool’s little Italian hadn’t diminished during the summer break.
It didn’t take long for Athletic Club to again level, Gakpo unfortunately heading into his own goal at the near post from a corner.
Sixty-seven minutes had been played and while Liverpool were looking sharp in possession, some of the defensive issues that had emerged earlier in pre-season were still at play.
It mattered not to Gakpo, though, who made up for his earlier own goal by striking the ball powerfully from seven yards out, with goalkeeper Unai Simon unable to stop it from flying beneath him.
Frimpong was the next player to come off, which triggered a change from Liverpool as Szoboszlai went to right-back and Endo moved into midfield, so the substitute, Nallo, could play alongside Konate at centre-half.
Moments later, Wirtz left the field to a standing ovation. Will Wright was his replacement, a tall 17-year-old striker who only had his £200,000 signing from Salford City officially announced by the club on the morning of the match.
Liverpool had a chance to seal the win with 10 minutes to play, when a clever piece of pass from Szoboszlai allowed Endo to run onto the ball in the box before being sandwiched and fouled.
However, Salah stepped up to take the spot-kick but uncharacteristically floated the ball over the bar.
Shortly after, Wright also had a golden chance to score, but his sidefooted finish was saved by the outstretched leg of Simon.
Much of the crowd, having watched over three hours of football had left by full time, but those still in attendance cheered the players off from their best pre-season performance so far.
Liverpool: Mamardashvili; Frimpong (Nallo 72′), Endo, Konate, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Wirtz (Wright 74′); Salah, Ekitike (Chiesa 57′), Gakpo
Subs not used: Pecsi, Davidson, Morrison
Next match: Crystal Palace (N) – Community Shield – Sunday, August 10, 3pm (BST)
