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Liverpool 0
Roma 1: Borriello (or Agger/Robinson og) 90'
The starting eleven in the first half--and the squad announcement overall--carried a slight tinge of disappointment with it, as only one of the late arriving England contingent was included in Jordan Henderson, with Adam Lallana joining Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge, and Glen Johnson as spectators. No Lazar Markovic either, leaving Rickie Lambert as the only summer signing to get a start. He featured up front with Fabio Borini and Jordon Ibe, with Lucas, Joe Allen, and Philippe Coutinho in the midfield and Martin Kelly, Sebastian Coates, Martin Skrtel, and Jose Enrique at the back in front of Brad Jones.
And despite the slightly larger occasion, it was more of the same from Liverpool in the first half, with all involved focused more on finding their legs than putting together much of anything going forward. Roma were probably the better side throughout, with Francesco Totti kneeing an Ashley Cole cross wide on the best chance for either side. Fabio Borini's injury--by the looks of it a dislocated shoulder--was a disappointing sight to see for Liverpool, who got comfortable performances from Sebastian Coates and Lucas, with Emre Can again looking solid after coming on for the injured Borini.
Jack Robinson was the lone substitute at the half, and there were further appearances for Kris Peterson, Daniel Agger, Conor Coady, Jordan Henderson, Suso, and Adam Phillips. It was again fairly tame stuff, with a well-struck Lambert effort Liverpool's most threatening bit of attack. Roma got the winner through Marco Borriello (or Daniel Agger or Jack Robinson) on 90 minutes, with a deflected effort finding its way through a number of bodies and past Brad Jones.
The verse here is largely the same as in the first two pre-season matches: Philippe Coutinho is lively and needs to stop shooting from distance and Emre Can is mighty impressive (both physically and at the football). Kris Peterson acquitted himself well along with Seba Coates and Lucas, and it was nice to see Jordan Henderson playing the role of cool head for Adam Phillips when the youngster went in with a rush of blood on Salih Ucan.
Fitness is the most important takeaway, and other than Fabio Borini, Liverpool look closer to that goal. They'll use the rest of the US tour for the same, and we can expect some new faces when they face Olympiacos in Chicago on Sunday.
