Blackburn Rovers vs Liverpool. Friendly Match.
Ewood ParkAttendance14,620.
Friday 20 July 2018 11:34, UK
Out-of-favour pair Daniel Sturridge and Lazar Markovic were on target as Liverpool beat Blackburn 2-0 at Ewood Park.
The first half in Lancashire was goalless only thanks to a penalty miss from James Milner, and two narrow escapes from Adam Lallana, who struck the post and saw a shot blocked on the line late on.
Liverpool made 10 changes at the break - bringing on Naby Keita and Fabinho among others - but it was Sturridge and Markovic who struck for the visitors.
Markovic, who has spent the past three season away from Anfield in various loan spells, first latched on to Sturridge's ball from the right with a fine first touch to beat his defender, before firing past Jayson Leutwiler from 12 yards (63).
And 10 minutes later, having missed a glorious chance already, Sturridge took an excellent Keita run and pass in his stride before slotting in at the near post.
Chances took a while to come to the fore, with James Milner's penalty miss punctuating an uneventful opening half-hour where Liverpool dominated possession but failed to get going.
Having brought down Dominic Solanke moments earlier as the pacy striker poked the ball beyond him, Raya dived well to his right to save a spot-kick never struck with any real venom - which reflected the lack of sting in the game - although Blackburn did work a number of bright openings.
Dominic Samuel forced a save from Loris Karius after getting down the outside of Alberto Moreno, but until Adam Lallana struck the post from Ben Woodburn's lay-off, the Reds had failed to impress in front of goal.
Within seconds of that near miss, they came even closer when Solanke used his skill to get beyond Ryan Nyambe before squaring for the returning midfielder, whose sidefoot was kept out on the line by Charlie Mulgrew.
Sturridge should have opened the scoring 10 minutes after half-time when Keita found him on the shoulder - but even when a dreadful first touch inadvertently set him up on his left foot, he somehow planted his effort beyond the far post.
Markovic soon took the heat off him when Sturridge turned provider, dropping deep to pick up the ball and then spot his run inside from the left, slotting the ball through to the Serbian who finished with aplomb.
And he got himself out of jail as Keita drove forward from midfield before reaching him, and a finish reminiscent of the old Sturridge doubled the lead.
Late on Jose Camacho could have added a third for the visitors with almost the final kick of the game, but he was denied from a tight angle by Leutwiler.
Liverpool take on Jurgen Klopp's old side Borussia Dortmund in the International Champions Cup in the USA on Saturday, while Blackburn travel to Lincoln on the same day for their next game in pre-season.
