Liverpool under-21s suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat at the hands of FC Porto's B team on Sunday afternoon as the young Reds near the end of their pre-season preparations.
Barry Lewtas' side were comfortable winners in their friendly with League One opponents, Fleetwood Town, on Wednesday and secured a 4-1 victory courtesy of goals from Oakley Cannonier, Jarell Quansah, Fidel O'Rourke and Dominic Corness. Prior to this impressive display, Liverpool had experienced a mixed set of results: beating Kidderminster Harriers and Leeds United, drawing with Caernarfon Town and losing to Wigan Athletic.
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On this occasion, the Reds were no match for their opponents as Lewtas' youthful line-up struggled to impose themselves during the contest played in Portugal but bagged a consolation goal through Layton Stewart. Three players who featured in Liverpool under-21s' win away to Kidderminster last week were Bobby Clark, Luke Chambers, Mateusz Musialowski, each of whom were handed first-team opportunities by Jurgen for the visit of Strasbourg at Anfield on Sunday evening.
Discussing his side's defeat against Porto B, Lewtas told Liverpoolfc.com : “We had a young team out and they actually played really well, and created some good chances to score more. It was a great experience for the younger players in the team to come over here to Portugal and we can definitely take positives from it. A special thanks to FC Porto, who gave us a great welcome.”
The under-21s get their Premier League 2 campaign under way against reigning champions Manchester City next Sunday, representing the tougher of starts to the domestic season.
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