After a very exciting friendly against Preston and a very safe win, Liverpool showed no signs of slowing down in terms of intensity in their first game ahead of the 2025/26 Premier League season. However, in their first competitive fixture, the Reds fell to AC Milan 4-2 with a worrying performance.
Arne Slot opted not to try out any new additions to Liverpool's system and fielded a very standard 4-2-3-1 from last season, but there were considerable changes in the positioning of the players, indicating possible scenarios in the new season's games. Ryan Gravenberch played as a defender alongside Virgil van Dijk. Meanwhile, Luca Stephenson, who was a defender in the first friendly, this time started the game at right-back.
Other curious changes were seen in other sectors, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Trey Nyoni being the midfielders behind Harvey Elliott as a more advanced midfielder and Florian Wirtz as a false nine. The only ones who maintained their standard positions throughout the match were Mohamed Salah on the right and Rio Ngumoha on the left, deployed in attack.
Gravenberch showed that he was a playmaker who had the freedom to get forward and facilitate the offensive progression of plays, while the full-backs were playing a lot in the half-spaces, leaving the wings for the winger to have individual duels, strengthening the support for return passes. Finally, Wirtz came out of the box a lot to collect balls as a midfielder, opening up space for Robertson and Elliott.
Liverpool also showed clearer signs of the characteristics they had when they were coached by Jugen Klopp, with Alisson playing a key role in deep throws, and Van Dijk helping out a lot with diagonal throws to find the winger.
Milan exposed Liverpool's weakness with long passes
However, the changes that were promising ended up allowing Milan to exploit Liverpool's weaknesses by defending low down in a 5-4-1 formation. The Italians, having regained possession, were able to exchange a lot of quick vertical passes and Rafael Leão was always there to finish off counter-attacks, playing a part in three of the four goals.
The Milan striker was mobile throughout the match in a 3-4-2-1 formation, dropping mainly on the left flank and being the priority target for high shots and deep passes. As a result, Liverpool will need to be very vigilant in order to defend better in a scenario in which they will face several teams from the upcoming Premier League.