Greuther Furth 4-4 Liverpool: Player ratings as Reds held to chaotic draw
- Liverpool shipped four goals in a chaotic second-half performance
- Darwin Nunez netted twice and added a key assist
- Liverpool continue their pre-season in Singapore
By Tom Gott
A hectic second half saw Liverpool throw away a 3-1 lead as they were held to a 4-4 draw with Greuther Furth in their second pre-season friendly of the summer.
The Reds were dominant in the first half and led through the excellent Luis Diaz, but wholesale changes at the break led to 45 minutes of madness from which Liverpool were fortunate to escape with a draw.
Liverpool had some early success down the wings, with Andy Robertson and Ben Doak both running at their opposing full-backs inside the first five minutes and seeing shots on goal which ultimately led to nothing.
Diaz drew the first real save from the Furth stopper Jonas Urbig soon after, driving low from the outside of the box and seeing his effort turned wide.
The Liverpool pressure was relentless and the opening goal eventually came shortly after the 20-minute mark. Diaz weaved his way around three defenders and aimed for a similar area to his earlier shot, but Urbig could do nothing about this one.
Diogo Jota somehow failed to double Liverpool's advantage immediately after. Snatching possession after a loose touch, Jota ran through on goal but dragged his effort wide when one-on-one with Urbig.
An improvised effort from Jota shortly before half-time came back off the post but Liverpool's dominance yielded just the one goal in the first 45 minutes.
Jurgen Klopp made 11 changes at the break and the second half got off to a nightmare start. Adrian's rushed pass to James McConnell was pounced on and diverted into an empty net by Julian Green after just two minutes.
However, after another two minutes, Liverpool were back in front. Mohamed Salah sent Darwin Nunez through on goal and the Uruguayan rounded Urbig and powered home a routine finish to restore his side's lead.
Salah blazed over soon after, before Adrian atoned for his earlier error with an excellent stop to bail out a loose pass from Joel Matip, and the high tempo continued as Nunez went straight down the other end and added his second goal of the afternoon, beating a defender and slotting home.
In the 67th minute, Furth grabbed their second of the outing. Lukas Petkov caught Joel Matip in possession and drilled home from a narrow angle, although the German side appeared to benefit from the lack of VAR to call out a missed offside shout.
With no end to the chaos in sight, Furth tied things up with a little over 15 minutes to go as Armindo Sieb crashed home from the edge of the box to set up a fascinating finale.
Sieb netted another just over a minute later, firing home from range just seconds after Liverpool's third goalkeeper, Marcelo Pitaluga, joined the fun.
To save face, Liverpool snatched a late equaliser as Nunez's fizzed cross was creatively steered into an empty net, and the Uruguay international would have headed home a winner had Urbig not pulled off an outrageous save.
Liverpool player ratings vs Greuther Furth (4-3-3)
First Half XI
GK: Alisson - 6/10 - A welcome sight back from injury but was a spectator for the best part of the first 45.
RB: Conor Bradley - 7/10 - Played an inverted full-back role and looked a real menace whenever he got forward. Linked up with Doak very well.
CB: Ibrahima Konate - 6/10 - Didn't do a whole lot wrong but didn't always inspire confidence on the ball. Lost his cool with the referee.
CB: Virgil van Dijk - 6/10 - Wore the captain's armband and, in an empty stadium, you could really hear just how much he was speaking with his teammates.
LB: Andy Robertson - 6/10 - Clearly still figuring out this new system. Made an occasional impact getting forward.
DM: Trent Alexander-Arnold - 6/10 - Composed on the ball but not used as much as the Karlsruher game as Liverpool focused on the wings instead.
CM: Alexis Mac Allister - 7/10 - Really impressive in possession and popped up in a few dangerous positions, and yet you could still tell he is learning the ropes in this Liverpool system. More to come.
CM: Cody Gakpo - 8/10 - Really enjoyed the freedom to fly around the pitch and was at the heart of everything impressive from Liverpool.
RW: Ben Doak - 8/10 - A real terror with the ball at his feet. Looked like he wanted to make something happen with every touch.
ST: Diogo Jota - 7/10 - Missed an absolute sitter but was otherwise really dangerous.
LW: Luis Diaz - 8/10 - Such a threat when running at his defenders. An excellent goal and could have easily had one or two more.
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Second Half XI
GK: Adrian - 5/10 - Didn't cover himself in glory for Furth's first but actually made some huge saves to prevent a handful of extra goals.
RB: Joe Gomez - 4/10 - Looked lost as he failed to keep up with Furth's attackers. Really struggled.
CB: Jarell Quansah - 5/10 - A few flashes of inexperience but that's to be expected from an academy talent.
CB: Joel Matip - 2/10 - Really sloppy. Looked so far off the pace as he invited pressure and chances which led to goals from the German hosts.
LB: Kostas Tsimikas - 4/10 - Regularly caught out of position. Not good enough.
DM: James McConnell - 5/10 - Fed to the wolves by Adrian for the first goal and looked to be lacking confidence after that.
CM: Lewis Koumas - 6/10 - A little greedy in possession at times but did link up nicely with those in front of him.
CM: Curtis Jones - 5/10 - Didn't control the game like he did with England's Under-21s earlier this summer. Perhaps a little tired.
RW: Mohamed Salah - 7/10 - Injected some real quality into the game immediately and looked determined to rack up the assists. Took his goal well.
ST: Darwin Nunez - 8/10 - Really up for this one. Took both his goals with real composure, added the crucial assist and will have undoubtedly sent a message to Klopp.
LW: Harvey Elliott - 7/10 - Looked really sharp and creative as he sought to link up the midfield and attack.
SUB: Marcelo Pitaluga (75' for Adrian) - 5/10 - Largely uninvolved apart from picking the ball out of his net with his first touch.
SUB: Calum Scanlon (75' for Elliott) - 6/10 - Energetic and lively.
SUB: Melkamu Frauendorf (75' for Jones) - 5/10 - Couldn't get into the game.
SUB: Bobby Clark (75' for Koumas) - 6/10 - A quiet, inoffensive outing.
Manager
Jurgen Klopp - 6/10 - Will definitely have figured out the answers he wanted. Some of these players are deserving of a first-team spot and some most definitely have lots of work to do.