A clean sheet, a few near misses, and one name standing out

It finished goalless, but this was far from a dull 70 minutes of football. Liverpool and Como played out an entertaining behind closed doors friendly at the AXA Training Centre on Sunday afternoon, the first of two matches between the sides on the day. The second, and more high-profile fixture, takes place at Anfield in front of supporters at 6pm.

If one name is going to stick in the mind from this first outing, it is Victor Munoz. The Spaniard was Liverpool's most dangerous player across both halves, driving forward down the left with real intent, beating defenders with ease and delivering crosses that, on another day, would have found a finish. His run in the second period, where he carried the ball half the length of the pitch and left two defenders trailing before his shot-cum-cross was turned into the side-netting, was the kind of moment that gets a player noticed.

Iraola runs the rule over his full squad

This double-header was designed with a specific purpose in mind. Andoni Iraola, in his first pre-season as Liverpool head coach, wanted a proper look at every fit senior player alongside a number of the club's youngsters, and the squad selection for this first fixture reflected that. Wataru Endo and Luke Chambers both started at centre-back, neither in their natural positions, while James McConnell operated in an advanced midfield role and pressed with real aggression throughout.

Alexis Mac Allister made his first appearance of pre-season, getting 59 minutes before being replaced by Ndiaye, with Chambers pushing forward into midfield at that point. Harvey Elliott, deployed on the right, looked slightly ill at ease and was clearly keen to drift central where he tends to have more influence. In the second half, Federico Chiesa, Elliott and Munoz were all withdrawn at the break, making way for Lewis Koumas, Will Wright and a third change as Iraola shuffled his pack.

Koumas almost made an immediate impact, shooting just wide from distance on his weaker left foot shortly after coming on. Wright, too, was unfortunate not to win it late on, with a good block from Como denying him after a sharp turn following a pass from Trey Nyoni. Nyoni himself had spurned the best early chance of the match in the first half, and will know he should have done better.

What went wrong, and what pre-season looks like heading into Anfield

Liverpool's pre-season under Iraola has been a mixed bag. Wins against Sunderland and Wrexham gave way to two defeats in which the Reds threw away two-goal leads, against Leeds United and Monaco. A goalless draw in a behind closed doors workout is hardly a cause for concern, but the pattern of not seeing matches out will be something the new head coach will want to address before competitive football arrives.

Commentators at the AXA Training Centre were speculating that Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo could both feature in the Anfield fixture later this evening, which would give supporters watching live a look at two players who have yet to appear in this pre-season. Curtis Jones, meanwhile, joined Dominik Szoboszlai and Milos Kerkez in watching from the balcony rather than participating, a reminder that Iraola still has players to reintegrate before the squad is fully fit and firing.

The real test comes under the lights at Anfield tonight, with a crowd watching and a point to prove after that frustrating run of results. Munoz, for one, will be hoping to build on what he showed this afternoon.