Liverpool begin the defence of their Premier League title next month against Bournemouth and in the meantime, preparations are firmly underway ahead of the new season.
Of course, football has not been the main focus for the club as a whole since players and staff reported back for pre-season training.
Last week's 3-1 win over Preston took place just 10 days after Liverpool striker Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva were tragically killed in a car accident. As a result the game will be remembered more as a tribute rather than a friendly.
After a few days of training, things were kicked up a notch on Sunday afternoon and prior to the squad flying to Asia for their pre-season tour, a friendly took place against Stoke at the club's AXA Training Centre.
A Nunez hat-trick and goals from Ngumoha and Chiesa helped us beat Stoke City 5-0 in a behind-closed-doors friendly today ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/PoFE75YIJT
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 20, 2025
Details of the behind closed doors friendly have been revealed and the biggest talking point is that Darwin Nunez scored a first-half hat-trick in a 5-0 win.
The Uruguayan’s first was a true poacher’s finish as he smashed a loose ball home from close range after Dominik Szoboszlai was dispossessed. His brace came as he made a smart run in behind and latched onto a smart Szoboszlai through ball, before tapping home from Curtis Jones’ cross before the break to confirm his hat-trick.
Highly-rated youngster Rio Ngumoha also got on the scoresheet with a deflected effort as the Reds raced into a 4-0 lead before half-time. Federico Chiesa completed with the only goal in the second half.
The run-out saw captain Virgil van Dijk get some minutes under his belt whilst record signing Florian Wirtz made his first appearance - albeit unofficial - in Liverpool colours as he played the first-half.
Luis Diaz - linked with a move to Bayern Munich - was not involved alongside Alisson Becker and Alexis Mac Allister. However, they are all expected to be named in Arne Slot's squad for the Asia tour.
Liverpool will be in action against AC Milan in Hong Kong next Saturday before flying out to Japan to face Yokohama FM four days later.
Currently, the double-header against Athletic Club on Monday, August 2, 2025 is the final warm-up game pencilled for the Reds as the 2025/26 Community Shield showdown with Crystal Palace at Wembley precedes their Premier League opener against Bournemouth five days later.
