Liverpool 1-3 Borussia Dortmund: 3 Talking Points
Borussia Dortmund continued its winning start to this year's International Champions Cup following a 3-1 victory over Liverpool in North Carolina.
Virgil van Dijk put the Reds ahead early in the first half, but the Yellow Submarine's late rally in the second stanza saw Christian Pulisic bag a brace before Jacob Larsen added gloss to the win.
With several first-team stars absent, both sides unsurprisingly played a very weakened line-up, before introducing fresh legs after the break. Liverpool were in control for large extents, but some poor defending coupled with yet more nervy showings by Karius turned the tide towards the end.
Here are 3 takeaways from the friendly:
#1 Karius vindicates Liverpool's £67 million outlay for Alisson
Alisson Becker's arrival couldn't have come sooner for Liverpool. The Merseysiders have been blighted by the continued howlers by Loris Karius as he once again appeared nervous in goal and almost made another blunder. He came charging out of his area to make a clearance but shot straight at Marius Wolf, who then struck it agonizingly wide off the post.
On another day in another competition, that was bound to end in the back of the net. It was a reflection of how error-prone the German custodian is, as he then parried an effort into the path of Larsen in the dying embers, and he rounded off the evening by hoicking it into the roof of the net for a third.
That debacle in the Champions League final seems to have opened up the Pandora's box as Karius has not been the same ever since. He made a mistake in Liverpool's first pre-season game to Tranmere that once again led to a goal as his confidence appears to have taken a massive hit. His nervousness in today's game further accentuates the theory. He's simply a disaster waiting to happen every time Liverpool have played him in this pre-season and on this evidence, won't find many opportunities when the season kicks off. In any of the four fronts that Liverpool compete in.
These error-strewn performances only serve to justify Liverpool's massive outlay in bringing in a new personnel in goal.