Three surprise stars stand out as Liverpool register stalemates in Austria

Originally posted on Empire of the Kop | By Ste Carson | Last updated 7/20/21

Liverpool faced Wacker Innsbruck and Stuttgart in two mini-games at their pre-season training camp in Austria on Tuesday night.

Both clashes lasted just 30 minutes each and featured a total of 22 players for the Reds, with the XIs entirely swapped out at the break.

The debut of Ibou Konate and the returns of Joel Matip and Trent Alexander-Arnond will steal the headlines, but Liverpool had three surprise packages on display against Wacker Innsbruck and Stuttgart.

In the second game against the more recognisable Bundesliga side, Kostas Tsimikas proved to be a problem for the opposition down the left flank in the 1-1 stalemate, zipping up and down the left side, creating chances. The Greek capped off his outstanding performance with an assist for Sadio Mane.

In the game against Wacker Innsbruck, Jurgen Klopp opted for a more junior XI and two stand-out starlets were Owen Beck and Kaide Gordon.

The duo were a nuisance for the Austrian side throughout the half-hour period, with the attacker drawing a few fouls and the full-back running a marathon up and down the left flank.

Beck notably won Liverpool a penalty-kick early on, which was converted by Divock Origi, and Gordon was unlucky to not have a goal contribution of his own.

This article first appeared on Empire of the Kop and was syndicated with permission.

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