Arne Slot has praised Harvey Elliott's quality after he provided a spark to help Liverpool get a 2-1 pre-season friendly win over Arsenal in Philadelphia.
The 21-year-old provided assists for both of their goals, setting up Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho, and could have had a third, but Diogo Jota struck the post.
Elliott has started both pre-season games under Slot so far, being deployed in the number 10 role against the Gunners, and looks to have settled in nicely under the new manager.
He had three shots and created four chances for Liverpool, double that of anyone else on the field, and Slot was quick to highlight the integral role he played in the victory.
"They were two great assists but what I believe is that the team created this for him as well," Slot said.
"Playing out from the back, getting him in the right positions. Then it was up to Harvey to bring the most out of those situations, and he did that today with two assists.
"If I am a bit hard on him, I think there were maybe two other situations where he could have done better, but he showed his quality."
Slot made wholesale changes in the second half, with his young side holding out to protect their narrow lead after Kai Havertz had pulled a goal back just before the break.
"I would have preferred to have kept the same style as the first half, but we had to change a lot of players who have played a lot of minutes for us," Slot added.
"A lot of youngsters did really well defensively, but we couldn't keep pressing them as high as we did in the first half. Arsenal dominated possession in the second half, but we got bodies behind the ball.
"You can see the American fans love us playing here, and we love playing here as well, especially if the results keep going like this for us. We are heading in the right direction."
Arteta impressed with 'different' Jesus after Leverkusen thrashing
Mikel Arteta has said he has seen "something different" from striker Gabriel Jesus since last season, as the Brazilian impressed against Bayer Leverkusen.
Jesus, who scored four goals in 27 Premier League appearances last term, was on target with a fine finish against the Bundesliga champions on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old failed to score in his last 10 league appearances after returning from a knee injury, with Kai Havertz starring in the number nine position in his absence.
However, Arteta has been impressed with Jesus' displays in pre-season, but has set his striker a challenge of becoming more consistent this year.
"I said from day one, the first feeling when I saw him after talking to him at the end of the season is that he was something different," Arteta said.
"I could sense it. His energy was different, the way he looks is different, the way he’s moving is different. He really wants it.
"Now it’s about finding that consistency and doing it in any context, against any opponent, against any formation, any day, every three days, for 90 minutes, for 30 minutes, for 70 minutes.
"If you produce in those circumstances? It looks good."
The encounter against Xabi Alonso's side saw the return of both Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka into the first-team fold after their Euro 2024 campaign with England.
But there was no sight of Jurrien Timber and new £42m signing Riccardo Calafiori, with Arteta able to explain their omission from the squad.
"Jurrien had a little discomfort in his foot in the last few days and obviously, after the amount of time he’s been out, we didn’t want to take any risks with him," Arteta said.
"In regard to Riccardo, so much happened to him in one week! He’s come into a new environment with a different methodology and different training, so we are managing him, and we want to do it slowly and in the best way possible.
"Hopefully he will be available to play some minutes on Sunday."
Arsenal conclude their pre-season preparations against Lyon this weekend ahead of their Premier League opener against Wolves at the Emirates six days later.
Arsenal continued their preparations for the new Premier League season with a convincing 4-1 triumph over Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen.
Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus gave the Gunners a comfortable advantage at half-time, with Kai Havertz adding a fourth in the second half.
Substitute Adam Hlozek would take the shine off an otherwise impressive performance from Mikel Arteta's side late on, but Arsenal were worthy winners at the Emirates.
A frantic start to proceedings saw Zinchenko give the hosts the lead in the eighth minute as he rifled home Havertz's cutback from the edge of the area.
Matej Kovar was picking the ball out of his net again less than a minute later, as Leverkusen were caught playing out from the back with Trossard remaining composed to slot home.
Another mistake from the Bundesliga champions was punished seven minutes before half-time, this time by Jesus, who saw his long-range effort evade the grasp of Kovar.
The result was put beyond doubt just after the hour mark when the returning Bukayo Saka saw his cross deflect kindly into the path of Havertz for an easy finish.
Xabi Alonso's side showed a glimpse of the football that saw them win 28 of their 34 league games last year, with Hlozek rounding off a fine move with a delicate chip over David Raya.
Arsenal face Lyon in their final pre-season fixture on Sunday before starting their quest for that elusive Premier League title against Wolves six days later.
Data Debrief: Gunners turn on the style
Arsenal impressed in their penultimate pre-season fixture against a strong Leverkusen side, with promising signs to show they can go one better this season.
Arteta's side out-performed their expected goals (xG) by 2.6, with six of their nine shots on target, registering double the amount of touches in the box when compared to their opponents.
Trossard was a particular standout for the Gunners, recording the most touches in the opposition box (seven) while also making the most passes in the final third (19), a total only bettered by Leverkusen's Granit Xhaka (24) and Edmond Tapsoba (21).
Sturm Graz 2-2 Paris Saint-Germain: Parisiens held in first game without Mbappe
Sturm Graz came from two goals down to secure an unlikely draw against Paris Saint-Germain in their first game since Kylian Mbappe's move to Real Madrid.
Ibrahim Mbaye and Carlos Soler had given the Parisiens a two-goal advantage with just 12 minutes on the clock, but their Austrian opponents would respond.
Amady Camara would pull a goal back for the hosts three minutes later, with Otar Kiteishvili levelling the scores just before half-time.
Substitute Marco Asensio had the opportunity to win the encounter late on for the Ligue 1 champions, but Luis Enrique started his pre-season preperations with a draw.
PSG opened the scoring at the 28 Black Arena through 16-year-old debutant Mbaye, bouncing the ball over the onrushing Daniil Khudiakov after being found by Asensio.
Soler, who captained the side in Austria, found the target three minutes later when Randal Kolo Muani's cross picked him out unmarked inside the area.
But Kamara halved the deficit in double quick time, picking the pocket of Naoufel El Hannach on the edge of the area before finishing beyond Matvey Safonov.
The comeback was completed in the 43rd minute in some style, as Kiteishvili took aim from distance to find the bottom corner.
Data Debrief: PSG struggle without stars
Enrique is without some of his top performers in front of goal, but his PSG side had more than enough quality on the pitch to claim victory in Austria.
The Parisiens accumulated an expected goals (xG) of just 1.06, 0.18 fewer than their opponents. PSG managed nine shots in the encounter, four fewer than Sturm Graz.
16-year-old Mbaye did impress on debut, however, recording the most shots (three), shots on target (two) and touches in the opposition box (four) than anyone in the PSG side.
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