PURPLE PAIN!

Milner bloodied as £67m man Alisson makes debut

Liverpool 5 Napoli 0

Manchester City. Last season, Liverpool had a lethal first XI, but their squad depth was suspect.

That’s no longer the case – and a look at Liverpool’s bench in Dublin was an indicator that Klopp now has a group of players with the skill, strength and ability to make a sustained title assault.

With skipper Jordan Henderson and Croatian Dejan Lovren back on Monday after their World Cup exploits, Liverpool’s bench still boasted new boys Fabinho and Xherdan Shaqiri, as well as Daniel Sturridge and teenage full-back Trent Alexander-arnold.

They all came on early in the second half, but, by then, the game was in the bag for Klopp’s impressive stars, led from midfield by £54million Naby Keita.

Minutes after Milner’s opener, Dutch star Georginio Wijnaldum headed the reds into a 2-0 lead.

Salah scored a superb, curling left-footer after 58 minutes to make it 3-0, then made way for Sturridge, who found the net on 73 minutes.

Alberto Moreno completed the rout with a thunderbolt and, in eight pre-season games, Liverpool have won six and lost just one.