Xherdan Shaqiri’s inch perfect assist and Liverpool’s devastating attack

Jack O'Toole

Liverpool finished their pre-season on a high with a 3-1 win over Torino in the final friendly before their season opener against West Ham United on Sunday.

Roberto Firmino, Georginio Wijnaldum and Daniel Sturridge all got on the scoresheet for the Reds while midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri provided a sublime assist for the latter’s third and final goal.

Firmino opened the scoring after just 20 minutes when his deflected shot took a looping deflection off wing-back Lorenzo Di Silvestri before finding its way into the back of the net.

Wijnaldum then doubled the hosts advantage three minutes later with a beautiful move that saw the Dutch international sneak in behind the visitors defence before pelting the ball home.

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp then made seven changes at the break with Xherdan Shaqiri, Andy Robertson, Marko Grujic, Curtis Jones, Adam Lallana, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Ings all making an appearance with Shaqiri providing the assist on the final goal.

After receiving the ball on the edge of the box, the Swiss international leaves possession for Nathaniel Clyne before taking the ball back off the England defender and dinking the ball over the top of the Torino defence for Daniel Sturridge to head home unmarked from close range.

The former Stoke winger has looked very impressive in the pre-season and scored a bicycle kick on debut against Manchester United with Klopp admitting that he has adapted to life at Liverpool better than he expected.

“That’s not normal after four days in the club – adapting that well to the style of play,” Klopp said last month after his club debut.

“We wanted to help him a little bit with the position so that it’s not too complicated, gave him a lot of freedom, offensively playing natural, plus offering runs in behind, which is what he did, especially around the Sturridge goal.

“When he signed for the club, he wanted to start training with us straight away, even though he had not had a holiday after the World Cup. We had to tell him, no, go away for a break and then come back.”