Wigan Athletic vs. Liverpool: Score, Reaction to 2016 Pre-Season Friendly

Liverpool continued their pre-season preparations with another strong performance, as they beat Wigan Athletic 2-0 at the DW Stadium on Sunday.

Manager Jurgen Klopp's men dominated from the outset, but it wasn't until Danny Ings and Ben Woodburn netted within three minutes of each other deep into the second half that the Merseysiders finally found the breakthrough they deserved.   

The Reds made a positive start, as they sought to get on the ball and move it around midfield. Their first chance came from a set piece after Sadio Mane beat Jason Pearce, only for the defender to foul him—Philippe Coutinho curled a beautiful strike on to the bar with the goalkeeper beaten.

Liverpool continued to dominate possession, as Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Mane probed for an opening in the Latics' defence. When the ball fell to the former Inter Milan man in space inside the penalty area, he rattled the woodwork for a second time after shifting the ball on to his left foot.

The Brazilian was the Reds' brightest spark in attack and linked up well with his compatriot, Firmino. The pair nearly combined for the opener, but Coutinho curled his effort off target.

Goal's Melissa Reddy and ESPN FC's Glenn Price were full of praise for the playmaker:

At the other end, summer signing Loris Karius sought to inject some excitement into proceedings when he allowed Joel Matip's back-pass to roll past him and across goal, though he just about recovered to scramble in front of the onrushing Sam Morsy and deny him, per Kristian Walsh of the Liverpool Echo:

Liverpool's last chance of the half again came about due to good work from Coutinho, who burst into the box and jinked past a second defender before finding Mane, but Lee Nicholls reacted well to close down the winger's close-range effort.

Squawka Football shared some snapshots of the action at the break:

As he did against Fleetwood Town in Liverpool's last outing, Klopp made a raft of changes at half-time, per the Liverpool Echo's James Pearce:

Among the substitutes was Ings, who almost made an immediate impact when Lucas Leiva picked him out on the left, but Nicholls made a strong save low to his left. The former Burnley striker was involved again soon after when he flashed a shot wide of the post.

At the other end, Yanic Wildschut looked to make things happen for the hosts, but his shot from distance flew wide after he cut inside on the right.

Liverpool came close again through Ryan Kent after excellent work from Matip and Lazar Markovic, per Walsh:

The Reds soon grabbed a deserved lead, though, when Markovic picked out Ings with a delightful cross and the striker calmly poked the ball past Nicholls. Squawka Football captured his celebrations:

The visitors struck again soon after when youngsters Kent and Woodburn combined well. The former sent the latter clear with a lovely through ball, and Woodburn finished it calmly. Price was rightly impressed with the 16-year-old:

Wigan perhaps should have pulled one back when Tim Chow found space in the area, but the midfielder could only scuff his shot straight at Karius. Ings almost added a second, but Nicholls again made a strong save.

The Reds have looked fairly strong in their three pre-season games thus far, keeping clean sheets in all three.

Coutinho's performance in particular will be cause for encouragement. He looked much sharper than would have been expected at this stage.

Post-Match Reaction

Per Pearce, Klopp wasn't particularly enthused with his side's first-half performance:

"

It was a good first 30 minutes and then there was a little break in the game, we lost the formation — too big spaces — and they could play a little bit.

We let them play. I told the boys that I have seen a lot of games in my life and a few of them were more exciting than our first half, especially the end of the first half.

But it was okay. I saw a lot of good things, creating chances. Wigan had a good formation obviously and they have been in training a week longer, I know this.

"

However, he was far more pleased with the second half, saying, "It was okay, nothing more. The second half was more than okay because the young boys obviously didn’t think too much about tired legs and the intensity of training."

Klopp added:

"

They had good organisation, Tiago (Ilori) and Joel plus Lucas together with young Trent Alexander-Arnold did really well, and the rest were involved in our offensive play. 

That was really flexible, it was quick and direct. We had good direction in the game and we scored two wonderful goals, and could have scored one or two more. It was absolutely deserved so I’m quite satisfied.

"