Liverpool 2-4 AC Milan: Arne Slot’s side kick off Asian tour with defeat
Liverpool started their pre-season tour of Asia with a 4-2 defeat to AC Milan in Hong Kong.
New midfield signing Florian Wirtz led the line for Arne Slot’s side in the absence of Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez, who were not included in the squad amid ongoing speculation around their departures.
Milan opened the scoring inside ten minutes when Rafael Leao breezed past Virgil van Dijk and lashed a shot in at the near post. Liverpool responded through Dominik Szoboszlai, who curled in from the edge of the box after good work from the 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha.
Slot made extensive changes at the break as is usually done in pre-season. New signings Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili all saw some action.
Milan retook the lead early in the second half when Leao squared for Ruben Loftus-Cheek to finish, then they added a third soon after with Alexis Saelemaekers picking out Noah Okafor to score from close range.
Gakpo pulled one back for Liverpool in stoppage time but Milan restored their two-goal cushion almost immediately after a goalkeeping error from Mamardashvili.
Liverpool will next face Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan on Wednesday.
