Liverpool won the “biggest” of their preseason exhibition games (if you can call a friendly “big”) 4-1 in the International Champions Cup clash against Manchester United at Michigan Stadium.
Let’s take a spin through the news and notes emerging from what transpired in Ann Arbor, Michigan this Saturday. The unofficial attendance for the match today was 105,000. Typically, these numbers are inflated, but if this figure holds, then today’s clash hosted by the University of Michigan is the third highest attended soccer game ever on American soil.
The top two were also held at Michigan Stadium, in ICC competition: #1 was United versus Real Madrid in 2014 (109,318) and Real versus Chelsea in 2016 (105,826).
The two teams were tied at the half, but that’s very misleading as Liverpool dominated the first 45 minutes. The first half stats convey that as Liverpool won possession 59%-41%, held an 8-1 advantage in shots, and were up 5-1 in regards to shots on goal.
The second half brought more domination as the Reds outscored United 3-0, with Mourinho’s side doing very little, or basically hardly anything in attack.
The scoring opened when Mohamed Salah won a penalty early in the first half. Sadio Mane then stepped up to convert from the spot in 28′. Here is the footage of that:
https://twitter.com/AnfieldExpress/status/1023328066913939456
-Welcome to the Reds Xherdan Shaqiri. He scored in the 82′ and provided the assist on Daniel Sturridge’s goal in the 66′.
Watch it below:
Sturridge’s goal great assist from Shaqiri on his debut ?https://t.co/9aft3lUfC9
— Isbaa Akhtar (@isbaaakhtar_lfc) July 28, 2018
And what a goal it was for Shaqiri too! The Switzerland international’s first in a Liverpool shirt is bicycle kick beauty that you’ll want to watch over and over and again:
Xherdan Shaqiri's first Liverpool goal is a bicycle kick against Man United.. https://t.co/6RKbut7a1W
— Football Planet (@FootballlPlanet) July 28, 2018
Also getting in on the scoring was the youngster Sheyi Ojo.
Like Mane, his goal also came from the spot. Take a look:
https://twitter.com/ScouserChris89/status/1023337062492266497
In the prematch press opportunities Jurgen Klopp had a lot of newsworthy things to say. When asked to comment on Real Madrid Captain Sergio Ramos, he referred to the defender’s actions in the UCL Final as “ruthless and brutal.”
In the prematch press conference, Klopp confirmed that it was the birth of a son which led Nathaniel Clyne to fly back early from the USA preseason exhibition tour.
“We have exchanged messages and I’ve seen a picture. A little Clyney!” Klopp exclaimed.
“The baby will keep him busy for a few days and then he will start training again, all good. There are more important things in life than football and babies are definitely one of them. It’s nice for him, next level.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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