Liverpool vs. Milan result, analysis and highlights as Nunez scores twice in convincing friendly win

Darwin Nunez scored twice as Liverpool rounded off their mid-season training camp with a 4-1 win over Milan.

The Uruguayan came off the bench to secure a comfortable victory for the Reds, who were already leading upon his introduction courtesy of goals from Mohamed Salah and Thiago Alcantara.

Milan had earlier cancelled out the first of those through Alexis Saelemaekers, but were otherwise second best across the 90 minutes and ultimately only ended up with a 4-3 win in the post-match shootout to show for their efforts.

Even that couldn’t prevent the Italians finishing bottom of the Dubai Super Cup standings, with their opponents moving up to third behind Lyon and Arsenal.

But Liverpool’s main takeaway from proceedings at Al Maktoum Stadium will be the confidence boost of four goals and a strong performance ahead of next Thursday’s League Cup trip to Manchester City.

Liverpool vs. Milan result

	1H	2H	Final
Liverpool	2	2	4
Milan	1	0	1

Milan win post-match penalty shootout 4-3

Goals:
LIV — Salah — 5th min
MIL — Saelemaekers — 29th min
LIV — Thiago — 41st min
LIV — Nunez — 82nd min
LIV — Nunez — 88th min

Nunez receives much-needed boost

If there is one player who Liverpool would have most regretted losing to the World Cup, Nunez was surely it.

After a mixed start to his Anfield career, the Uruguayan had scored seven goals in 10 appearances prior to the break, and was starting to look like a player well worth the £85m fee paid to Benfica.

As such, heading to Qatar to endure three goalless games that returned two defeats and a draw did not feel like the ideal next step in terms of maintaining his confidence.

Fortunately, the 23-year-old showed no signs of that brief stint with his country affecting him here, coolly taking his two goals to effectively pick up where he left off.

Youngsters impress once again

Liverpool’s youngsters had already showed their worth in an EFL Cup victory over an experienced Derby County team early last month.

But they appeared keen to prove that was no one-off in grasping a rare first-team opportunity with both hands once again in this one.

Both Bobby Clark and Ben Doak grabbed assists for Nunez after coming off the bench, the former with a particularly eye-catching curling through-ball.

Meanwhile, Stefan Bajcetic showed why he is so highly rated by Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff with a composed midfield performance.

Reds have every justification for getting excited about the young talent on the club’s books at the moment. 

Strong team to face Manchester City

With just one change made to the starting XI from defeat over Lyon, Klopp dropped a big hint about his starting XI at Manchester City here.

The likes of Salah, Roberto Firmino, Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara all look certain to start after featuring from the off in both friendlies in Dubai.

In fact, the only question mark seems to be over who starts on the left-hand side, with Fabio Carvalho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain having shared that duty across these games.

Still, whichever way Klopp goes on that call, Liverpool should is sure to put out a team strong enough to win against a City side that is likely to be more depleted by the World Cup.

Liverpool vs. Milan as it happened

Milan win the penalty shootout 4-3!

10th penalty: Kalulu to take for Milan… SCORES! Liverpool 3-4 Milan

9th penalty: Nunez to take for Liverpool… SCORES! Liverpool 3-3 Milan

8th penalty: El Hilali to take for Milan… SCORES! Liverpool 2-3 Milan

7th penalty: Clark to take for Liverpool… SCORES! Liverpool 2-2 Milan

6th penalty: Adli to take for Milan… SAVED! Liverpool 1-2 Milan

5th penalty: Carvalho to take for Liverpool… SCORES! Liverpool 1-2 Milan

4th penalty: Bakayoko to take for Milan… SCORES! Liverpool 0-2 Milan

3rd penalty: Keita to take for Liverpool… SAVED! Liverpool 0-1 Milan

2nd penalty: Bennacer to take for Milan… SCORES! Liverpool 0-1 Milan

1st penalty: Tsimikas to take for Liverpool… SAVED! Liverpool 0-0 Milan

FULLTIME: All over in Dubai and Liverpool claim a 4-1 win. Now for the post-match penalty shootout!

88th min: GOAL! Nunez gets his second!

Doak may not have a goal to show for his cameo but he has an assist, which comes after he bursts in behind down the right and picks out a whipped, low cross for Nunez to pass into the net.

86th min: Fresh from replacing Mo Salah, Ben Doak strikes the foot of the post with an effort from distance. Unlucky.

82nd min: GOAL! Nunez seals the win for Liverpool!

It’s a calm finish in a one-on-one situation from the Uruguayan but the ball to put him through from Bobby Clark is an outrageous piece of technique. Very impressive from the youngster.

78th min: More changes for Liverpool, with Bobby Clark and Dominic Corness entering the fray.

70th min: Milan strike the bar!

It’s a fine, dipping effort from El Hilali, who had cut in off the left to get a shot away.

68th min: Pinball in the Milan box as Carvalho, Salah and Frauendorf all have shots blocked in quick succession. 

No lack of commitment in the defending, there. 

64th min: Liverpool still pressing aggressively since those substitutions, with plenty of encouragement from Klopp on the touchline.

60th min: A raft of changes coming for Liverpool now: Adrian, Nunez, Tsimikas, Carvalho, Fraudendorf and Keita getting a runout. 

Kelleher, Firmino, Robertson, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thiago making way.

57th min: Pobega heads a corner toward goal but it’s a straightforward save for Kelleher in the end. 

53rd min: Liverpool with most of the ball at the start of the second half but they are yet to do anything with it. 

46th min: Milan get the game restarted. They have swapped Tonali for Bennacer in midfield, but no changes for Liverpool.

HALFTIME: Liverpool lead at the break, goals from Mohamed Salah and Thiago Alcantara either side of an Alexis Saelemaekers strike giving them the advantage.

Expect changes in the second period.

45th min: Five minutes to be added on. Those excessive World Cup injury times are catching on…

41st min: GOAL! Stunning goal from Thiago!

Firmino challenges for a ball at the edge of the box and it falls into the path of his Spanish teammate in rather fortuitous fashion.

There’s nothing lucky about the touch and finish that follows, though, Thiago controlling in an instant before unleashing a powerful shot into the bottom corner with barely any backlift.

35th min: Oxlade-Chamberlain heads goalward after Robertson nods a cross back into his path but can’t get enough behind the effort, which is saved.

29th min: GOAL! Milan level it up!

A crossfield pass finds Saelemaekers on the right-hand side and he cuts in with ease before finding the bottom corner with a left-footed shot.

26th min: Thiago also tries his luck from distance to no avail and it’s time for a drinks break.

21st min: Oxlade-Chamberlain cracks one wide from distance… and then gets an earful from Milner for not playing him in on the right-hand side. 

The captain was in acres.

15th min: Salah gets another shot away but he is being closely marked and can’t get enough power on it to trouble Mirante.

11th min: The perfect start for the Reds but they were similarly quick out of the blocks against Lyon and ultimately that game ended in defeat.

Can they sustain this?

5th min: GOAL! Liverpool take the lead with just five minutes gone!

Joel Matip steps out from defence into midfield and just keeps going and going before exchanging passes with Roberto Firmino and then teeing up Mohamed Salah for a simple finish.

That’s a brilliant goal.

1st min: The game gets under way.

5 mins to kickoff: The Milan team finally with us and, unfortunately for Liverpool fans in attendance, no Divock Origi in the squad.

Milan: Mirante, Kalulu, Thiaw, Gabbia, Pobega, Krunic, Tonali, Saelemaekers, Adli, Rebic, Lazetic

15 mins to kickoff: Klopp has been discussing Darwin Nunez, who returns to the bench today: “He will get minutes today. He looks sharp, really calm on the ball, good sessions since he was here. Could he have started? Maybe yes. But we want him ready for next week.”

40 mins to kickoff: So, no team news from Milan yet but just the one change for Liverpool, with Oxlade-Chamberlain coming in for Fabio Carvalho.

Those two are likely to share duties on that left-hand side with Luis Diaz having suffered a setback in his recovery and Diogo Jota still out.

1 hr to kickoff: Team news is here – well, some of it.

Liverpool: Kelleher, Milner, Gomez, Matip, Robertson, Bajcetic, Elliott, Thiago, Salah, Firmino, Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Milan: To be confirmed.

1 hr 30 mins to kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of Liverpool vs. Milan in the Dubai Super Cup. The Reds’ chances of lifting the trophy are already gone after they suffered defeat to Lyon, but they will hope to sign off from their mid-season break with a confidence-boosting result and performance. 

MORE: Liverpool World Cup players knocked out and full squad list for Qatar 2022

Liverpool vs. AC Milan lineups

Liverpool starting XI

(4-3-3, right to left): Kelleher (GK) — Milner, Matip, Gomez, Robertson — Bajcetic, Elliott, Thiago — Salah, Firmino, Oxlade-Chamberlain

Subs: Adrian, Keita, Tsimikas, Nunez, Carvalho, Clark, Phillips, Doak, Cain, Quansah, Corness, Chambers, Frauendorf

AC Milan starting XI

(4-2-3-1): Mirante (GK) — Kalulu, Pobega, Gabbia, Thiaw —  Krunic, Tonali — Saelemaekers, Adli, Rebic — Lazetic

Subs: Jungdal, Tatarusanu; Bakoune, Bozzolan, Simic, Bakayoko, Bennacer, Vranckx, El Hilali.

What time is Liverpool vs. AC Milan?

Liverpool and AC Milan face off at the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Friday, December 16. The game kicks off at 3.30 p.m. GMT.

	UK	USA	Canada	Australia
Date	Fri, December 16	Fri, December 16	Fri, December 16	Sat, December 17
Time	15:30 GMT	10:30 ET	10:30 ET	02:30 AEDT

Liverpool vs. AC Milan live stream, TV channel

This game is available to watch via LFCTV and LFCTV GO, Liverpool’s club TV channel and on-the-go streaming service. New users can get a month’s free subscription.