‘7.5/10’, ‘strength and persistence’: Media wowed by 20-year-old Liverpool talent’s display v Palace

Fri 15 July 2022 17:15, UK

Liverpool wrapped up their pre-season tour of Asia with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace in Singapore.

The Reds bounced back from their loss to Manchester United with a positive display against the Eagles.

Jurgen Klopp went with a strong starting XI and his side dominated from start to finish on Friday.

Liverpool opened the scoring at the Singapore National Stadium after just 12 minutes.

Jordan Henderson met Harvey Elliott’s cutback with a curled finish into the top corner.

And shortly after the second-half restart, the Reds doubled their advantage.

Mohamed Salah played a one-two with Trent Alexander-Arnold and curled an effort goalwards.

His strike took a sizeable deflection off Joachim Andersen and found its way past Vicente Guaita.

Klopp once again opted to give minutes to as many players as possible.

“Great strength and persistence”

And one of Liverpool’s youngsters, Sepp van den Berg, gave a good account of himself.

The 20-year-old was a half-time substitute and played until the 78th minute.

Several media outlets rated Van den Berg highly for his efforts.

The wrote: “Showed great strength and persistence to hold off Edouard shortly after coming on.”

Meanwhile, gave Van den Berg 7.5 out of 10.

They added: “A real robust performance from the 20-year-old. Loan at Preston has clearly been beneficial.”

And awarded him 7 out of 10, writing: “Looked confident alongside his compatriot.

“Another loan this season is likely, though.”

Van den Berg, who spent 18 months on loan at Preston, is part of the touring squad on recommendation from Pep Lijnders.

Speaking to Liverpool’s earlier this week, he revealed he was yet to discuss his next step with Klopp.

“I had a little chat with him about the loan last season. But it’s too early for that,” he said.

“With so many players, everyone is trying their best to impress and of course to get fit.

“For me now at the moment, it’s really to enjoy. It’s a great experience to be here.

“It’s a great experience to be back training with the guys as well, of course the level is outstanding. I’ve missed it.

“For me personally now, it’s just try to get back and impress everyone and we’ll see what happens.”