Liverpool held to goalless draw by Las Palmas in final summer friendly

Match reportLiverpool held to goalless draw by Las Palmas in final summer friendly

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By James Carroll at Anfield

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Liverpool's final pre-season friendly of the summer ended in a goalless draw with Las Palmas at Anfield on Sunday evening.

The Reds were held by the La Liga side in their second game of the day in L4, having earlier dispatched Sevilla 4-1.

Andy Robertson went closest to giving either side the lead when he clipped a fine effort against the post from the edge of the area.

Nevertheless, having had an opportunity to give 31 players some game time ahead of next weekend's Premier League opener at Ipswich Town across both fixtures, it was another useful workout for Arne Slot and his players before competitive action gets under way.

With Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Robertson making their first appearances of the summer, Liverpool got their second game of the day up and running in an empty Anfield, with this outing being played behind closed doors.

After an even opening, the Reds began to settle and fashioned the first decent opportunity on 16 minutes when Harvey Elliott slipped a pass into Gakpo in a central position inside the box. The Netherlands forward controlled and shot, but it was too close to Jasper Cillessen.

A minute later, Nunez had an effort ruled out for offside when he prodded Ben Doak's header back across goal over the line.

At the other end, Robertson prevented Las Palmas from taking the lead when Caoimhin Kelleher lost the flight of a cross into his area. The Reds captain managed to scoop the loose ball away from Jaime Mata, who could then only head back into the gloves of Kelleher.

A minute later, the goalkeeper was required to thwart Alex Suarez's near-post strike after a corner had made its way to him at the back post.

With 35 gone, Doak had something of a half-chance when Robertson's centre from the left almost dropped for him off Munoz, but with the ball at an awkward height he could only nudge towards the corner, where Cillessen claimed.

Nunez had a low effort gathered by the visiting stopper after he'd sped down the left and cut inside onto his right foot on the edge of the box.

Robertson then flicked a cross from Marvin Park onto the top of his own crossbar in an attempt to cut out the danger. The Las Palmas full-back would deny Gakpo a goalscoring opportunity moments later by taking the ball off his toe as he went to shoot as play swung back the other way.

After a goalless first half, Wataru Endo was the first to threaten after the break when his header from a loose ball inside the box was kept out by Cillessen.

Doak then had a shot deflected behind by a block from Kirian Rodriguez after he'd created space from Elliott's pass inside the right channel of the area.

Liverpool went closest to breaking the deadlock on 59 minutes when Robertson collected a pass from Nunez on the edge of the box. The No.26 spun his marker before sending a left-foot curler crashing back off the post.

As the fixture entered its final stages, Kelleher saved at his near post from Alberto Moleiro, while Conor Bradley's swipe across goal was kept out by Cillessen after being teed up by Doak.

Then, with 90 seconds of normal time remaining, Ivan Gil spurned an opportunity to win it for Las Palmas when he miskicked six yards out with only Kelleher to beat, ensuring the fixture would conclude without an impression on the scoresheet.

Liverpool: Kelleher, Endo, Konate, Nunez (Blair, 67), Jones, Gakpo (Morton, 67), Elliott, Robertson (Scanlon, 60), Phillips (Nallo, 67), Doak, Bradley.

Unused subs: Davies, Gordon, Van den Berg.

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This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.