Perfect night at Anfield: Liverpool comes out on top in double-header against Athletic

Liverpool finally returned to Anfield since the end of the 2024/25 season, although not officially. The Reds organized two consecutive friendly matches on the same night against Athletic Bilbao, a doubleheader that had quite a few highlights. 

The home team dominated the Basque team in the first match, as Liverpool's promising young stars, well supported by Uruguayan international Darwin Nunez, thrashed Athletic 4-1.

Although Mexican international goalkeeper Alex Padilla was one of the standout players of the match, Liverpool dominated from the start, leading 2-0 by the fifth minute with goals from Rio Ngumoha and Nunez. 

The 16-year-old English gem is one of the most impressive players for the Reds this preseason, having scored two goals and provided two assists in just four appearances, something that Ben Doak highlighted after the match. 

"That guy is ridiculous," he told 'LFCTV' after full-time. "He is going to have some career ahead of him! So sharp and so talented. If he can keep going the way he is going, anything is possible."

On the stroke of half-time, Ben Doak, in Padilla's most unfortunate moment, made it 3-0, and in the second half Harvey Elliott scored the fourth. In the final stages of the match, in the 76th minute, Gorka Guruzeta scored Bilbao's consolation goal, thereby redeeming himself after a poor afternoon.

Liverpool's game one starting XI: Woodman; Stephenson, Tsimikas, Robertson, Nyoni; Mac Allister, Jones, Elliot; Nunez, Doak, Ngumoha.

On the other hand, Arne Slot fielded his strongest starting eleven in the second match of the night against the Basques, which was marked by Hugo Ekitike's first assist as a Liverpool player since joining the English club this summer in a transfer worth around £80 million. 

In addition to Ekitike, who assisted Mo Salah to open the scoring in this second match, Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez, and Jeremie Frimpong all played to make their Anfield debuts, as they all joined Arne Slot's squad as new additions this summer transfer window. 

However, Liverpool's weak defence, due to the absence of Van Dijk, Joe Gomez, and Quansah's departure to Leverkusen, was unable to prevent Oihan Sancet's equaliser. 

Cody Gakpo was the one who added some spice to the second game of the night when, in the space of 15 minutes, he scored two goals and headed home an own goal, leading to Liverpool's narrow victory over Athletic, which could have been more decisive had it not been for Mo Salah's late missed penalty.

It is also worth noting that these two matches against the La Liga team were the first games the Reds played at Anfield since the tragic death of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva in a car accident in Spain. The fans paid tribute to them in the 20th minute of both matches, which were stopped so that the fans could sing their names.

Liverpool's game two starting XI: Mamardashvili, Frimpong, Endo, Konate, Kerkez, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Wirtz, Salah, Gakpo, Ekitike