Yokohama F Marinos v Liverpool: Confirmed team news with Ekitike named in starting XI

Liverpool will hope to bounce back from Saturday’s defeat to AC Milan when they take on Yokohama F Marinos in the second game of their pre-season tour of Asia today.

Arne Slot’s men were beaten 4-2 by the Rossoneri in Hong Kong and looked a little rusty.

With more training time under their belt, Slot will expect better against the Japanese side who currently sit 18th in the 20-team J.League.

Liverpool Team News

Hugo Ekitike makes his first Liverpool start following his move from Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Frenchman starts in a three-man attack alongside Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah.

Florian Wirtz is also included and is expected to feature in a slightly deeper midfield role.

Giorgi Mamardashvili will hope to erase the memory of his howler against Milan after being selected between the sticks with regular first-choice Alisson on his way to Brazil to address a personal matter.

Slot told the club website: “He had to go back to Brazil for private reasons.

“That’s far from ideal – first of all for the private reasons, second of all for him to not be there in a game like this and in pre-season it’s also not ideal if you miss out on part of the pre-season.

“But again, private life is more important in these matters than joining a game today.”

Luis Díaz is no longer a Liverpool player after completing his move to Bayern Munich this morning.

Liverpool: Mamardashvili; Bradley, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Salah, Gakpo, Ekitike

How to watch Yokohama F Marinos v Liverpool

The match is available to watch on Liverpool’s own LFCTV channel.

Prediction

Liverpool are still getting up to speed but will expect to have enough quality to get a win on the board. Expect Wirtz to impress in a solid 3-1 win on the road.