Liverpool’s high-profile summer arrivals made their Anfield debuts on a unique night of football — but it was 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha who truly stole the spotlight.
The Reds hosted a rare double-header against Athletic Bilbao, with their second XI kicking off at 17:00 BST before the first team took to the pitch at 20:00.
Ngumoha, an England U-17 international, starred in the earlier fixture, scoring and assisting within the first five minutes. Liverpool went on to secure a 4-1 victory, with further goals from Darwin Núñez, Ben Doak, and Harvey Elliott.
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Later in the evening, Arne Slot handed debuts to a combined £263.5 million worth of summer signings: Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili — whose move was finalised a year after agreement.
However, it was Cody Gakpo who delivered the drama in the first-team clash, netting twice and adding an own goal in a 3-2 win. Mohamed Salah opened the scoring but later missed a penalty.
“In both games we created a lot of chances and scored seven goals. That’s very pleasing to see,” said manager Slot after the double victory.
