Liverpool vs Sevilla. Friendly Match.
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Report from the pre-season friendly between Liverpool and Sevilla at Anfield on Sunday; Diogo Jota's glorious volley put the Reds in front in Arne Slot's first home game in charge; Luis Diaz scored two and England U18 international Trey Nyoni rounded off the comfortable victory
Sunday 11 August 2024 23:14, UK
Liverpool cruised to victory in new head coach Arne Slot's first game at Anfield as they beat Sevilla 4-1 in their final public friendly of pre-season.
The Reds drew 0-0 with Las Palmas behind closed doors later on Sunday evening, six days before they open their Premier League campaign with a trip to newly-promoted Ipswich.
Slot's side were measured in their build-up and spritely in attack from the off. They should have been behind inside 15 minutes, though, when Stanis Idumbo seized on Jarell Quansah's mistake, but blazed over one-on-one.
Diogo Jota put them in front on the half-hour with a sublime first-time volley, before Luis Diaz also found the top right corner after cutting in off the left and firing past Orjan Nyland.
It was 3-0 at the break, with Diaz rolling his second into an empty net after Dominik Szoboszlai had raced clear and unselfishly squared for the Colombian forward.
Sevilla - who made nine changes at the break - did pull one back through Peque - but England U18 international Trey Nyoni fizzed home in front of the Kop to restore the three-goal cushion.
Mo Salah's energetic performance was almost rewarded with a goal in the final seconds of the 90, but an impressive save from Nyland prevented Liverpool from adding a fifth.
Arne Slot said he enjoyed his first experience of Anfield as Liverpool head coach.
"That's always nice, no matter which team you lead. Always if you play a home game it's always nice," he said.
"If you lead a team with 15,000 fans it's nice; if you lead a team with 50,000 it's even nicer; and if you lead a team that has 60,000 fans that are also constantly behind the team, similar to my former club at Feyenoord, those are always games to look forward to, and I got a taste of it today.
Defensive midfield role is an area Liverpool are reportedly looking to strengthen and, having tried a number of existing players in the position, the Dutchman believes he has identified the one who will start at Ipswich next weekend.
"The ones I have tried there has sometimes to do with the players I have had available," said Slot, who also oversaw a goalless draw with Las Palmas utilising a completely different squad just a couple of hours later.
"We have seen mostly Wata (Endo) and Ryan (Gravenberch) there, and in the previous game even Dominik (Szoboszlai) was a bit lower.
"I have quite a good idea which player suits there at this moment in my opinion best.
"But we are only one week working together with some players. Sometimes you feel this is the best No 6 but then the combination with the other two might not work out that well.
"It's not to say the ones who played today will play next week or the weeks after. We are still in a situation where we are constantly evaluating which is the best line-up for us. Today you saw this, but that's not to say it's the same next week."
