Liverpool were edged out 1-0 by Preston North End in a behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly at the AXA Training Centre on Friday.
The Reds – for whom 25 players got minutes – fashioned several promising chances, particularly during the first half, but it was the visitors who found the only goal, Robbie Brady scoring with an excellent effort from distance.
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The game was just three minutes old when the home side released Ben Doak into space via the left channel. The forward lined up a strike as he moved in on the angle but was blocked out by Brad Potts at the last.
From their next chance, Mohamed Salah narrowly cleared the crossbar with a good volley from inside the area after Preston had only partially cleared Kostas Tsimikas’ cross on an overlap down the left.
Both Harvey Elliott and Conor Bradley saw edge-of-the-box efforts deflected just wide to the right, and from the latter restart, Doak flicked a header off target when picked out free at the far post.
Liverpool were enjoying the vast majority of the ball and they carved out another strong chance with 26 on the clock. A dinked ball into the box was invitingly sent across the face of goal by Salah for Elliott, whose attempt to nudge in was denied as Preston goalkeeper Freddie Woodman reacted quickly to get palms on it.
And then against the run of play, just shy of the half-hour mark, the visitors found the net instead. Brady stole possession as the Reds tried to play out from the back and quickly clipped a clinical long-ranger that flew over Vitezslav Jaros and went in off the upright.
Slot deployed 10 changes to the Liverpool team at the outset of the second half, in which the opening 15 minutes passed by without any true goalmouth action at either end.
Luke Chambers swerved a 25-yarder too high as the contest moved towards its final quarter, and Lewis Koumas got too much on a shot soon after, having been teed up for the strike by Tyler Morton’s forward pass.
Slot’s men continued to try to turn their greater share of the ball into an equaliser; only an important block denied Trey Nyoni when he shimmied into the area and blasted at goal, before a low volley from Kaide Gordon was caught by the ’keeper.
But Preston held firm to preserve their one-goal advantage and the Reds now turn focus towards their three-match tour of the USA, which begins on Tuesday.
Liverpool first half: Jaros, Bradley, Van den Berg, Quansah, Tsimikas, Jones, Elliott, Szoboszlai (Endo, 33), Doak, Salah, Carvalho.
Liverpool second half: Davies, Stephenson, Nallo, Phillips, Chambers (Beck, 75), Endo (Nyoni, 75), Bajcetic, Morton, McConnell, Koumas (Blair, 75), Gordon.
