Liverpool U-23s vs Derby County U-23s
A short and sweet recap of the U-23s fixture against Derby County.
Coming off their 1-0 win over rivals Everton, manager Barry Lewtas and his side traveled to take on Derby County and improve on their opening result.
Lewtas kept the front six unchanged from the previous fixture. The back-line, however, saw changes in all but one position, with Conor Bradley reprising last week’s role at right back.
The young Reds came out to a quick start, and nearly equaled their opening-minute goal against Everton. Unfortunately, Ben Woodburn’s finish off a Liam Miller cross went just wide. Not long after, Liverpool won a free kick and saw Jake Cain curl a beauty to the top left corner that hit the back of the net after hitting the post.
The lead would not last long, as Derby County, equalized on their first real attack of the game in the 24th minute, courtesy of Josh Shonibare. They would continue to pressure the Liverpool defense and find a second in the 32nd minute, as Jack Stretton was the fortunate recipient of a Conor Bradley tackle which dispossessed Shonibare but resulted in the ball finding the leg of Stretton.
The young Reds had their chances, registering 12 shots on target to Derby County’s 10. The Reds also held the advantage in possession by 10% and won a massive 14 corners, while Derby County only managed to have one. It wasn’t a poor game, by any means. Liverpool managed to keep consistent pressure and performed relatively well defensively. Unfortunately, all it took was a couple of clinical finishes to change the outcome of the match, no matter the possession or dead ball opportunities.
Barry Lewtas will need his players to be on target for their next fixture as they are off to face Wigan Athletic in the first match of their EFL group on Tuesday.