BBBANK WILDPARK, KARLSRUHER // Liverpool began its pre-season schedule with plenty more still up in the air than usual, but Jürgen Klopp's men found the focus to deliver a promising opening performance. Against a Karlsruher side further along in its own preparations, the Reds dominated for large periods, ultimately winning 4-2 courtesy of two very late strikes.

Darwin Núñez gave Liverpool a very early lead, combining somewhat hesitantly with Mohamed Salah before ultimately finishing well. The Reds squandered that lead, going 2-1 down to goals either side of half time, but Klopp's brand new second half team found a richly-deserved equalizer before stealing it at the death.

The chatter before the game was focused on Jordan Henderson, with the Liverpool captain omitted from the squad amid continued links to Saudi Arabia. That limited Klopp's options in midfield, with Fabinho having not even travelled to Germany as he finalizes a transfer of his own.

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But there were new signings to see, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister both making their bows in the Liverpool midfield. They played a half each, and showed flashes to excite eagerly-watching fans, with Klopp springing something of a surprise.

That was a recurring theme, with the manager trying a number of potentially unexpected experiments, to varying degrees of success. Now is the time to do it, of course, and we might just have seen the first real clues about the new season.

Here are the five things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded.

Alexander-Arnold move

Innovation or necessity? That was the question when the Liverpool team news came out, and only Klopp will know for sure. But whatever the reason, Trent Alexander-Arnold was fielded as an out-and-out midfielder for this one, with Conor Bradley as the right-back.

There weren't a great deal of other defensive midfield options, given the situations surrounding Henderson and particularly Fabinho. But Klopp did elect to leave Mac Allister on the bench, rather than using him as part of the stronger first-half team — perhaps, amid the potential Saudi exodus, he wanted to see Alexander-Arnold as a number six?

If it was an audition, he did a pretty good job. There are perhaps some question marks over whether he can get sufficiently involved in the play from such a withdrawn base, with everyone keen to make the absolute most of his prodigious talent, but he at least passed the test without encountering any great difficulty. A lovely weighted ball through to Mohamed Salah eased concerns about his ability to pull the strings from deep.

No let-up for Konaté as Klopp call confirmed

Given Alexander-Arnold's move into midfield, Ibrahima Konaté might have expected some relief from his task of covering wide spaces on the right. But just like at the back end of last season, he was asked to do the role of two, with Bradley instructed by Klopp to invert.

That's interesting for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it's a strong indicator that the new system is here to stay, with Klopp employing it even without Alexander-Arnold in that hybrid role. That decision appears to have been confirmed.

But it's also something of a vote of faith in Bradley and his technical ability. Klopp must view him as more than a classic offensive full-back, with the capability to hold his own in the middle. At the very least, he considers it an experiment worth trying, something many will not have been expecting.

Szoboszlai pops up on the left

Even before Henderson got linked with a move away, it was assumed that Szoboszlai would essentially be his replacement. Spending much of the season for RB Leipzig on the right wing, he looked ready-made for the right-sided number eight role occupied by the captain up to now.

But after a training clip emerged of Mac Allister setting up Szoboszlai from the right, with the Hungarian coming in from the left to finish, a doubt was raised. And in this first pre-season outing, he did indeed begin on the left, with youngster Bobby Clark entrusted with the right-sided berth.

It's too early to draw many conclusions on that front, in what goes down as another surprise sprung by Klopp. Either way, Szoboszlai enjoyed a lively enough debut for the club. His Red Bull education was clear with his intelligent hustling and harrying, and he showed his inclination to continually look forward and get things moving.

Passion was not lacking either. He booted the ball away in frustration after a foul was awarded against him as he tracked back — not an advisable choice come the competitive fixtures, but an indicator of just how fired up he was.

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Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp.

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Team shape flipped

It was a whole new Liverpool team for the second half. That meant welcoming Joe Gomez at right back, and it seems Klopp did not fancy him in the hybrid role.

However, rather than abandoning the plan, Klopp appeared to try and flip it. In truth, it was quite hard to put a label on the system used, with the available players only loosely fitting into a recognizable XI. But on the whole, it seemed Kostas Tsimikas took over the hybrid function from the left, stepping infield regularly from his full-back base.

It was an interesting idea, but the manner of Karlsruher's second goal was not exactly a ringing endorsement. The hosts had the freedom of the right side of the pitch, with Tsimikas too high and too central, and Jarrell Quansah unable to cover the gaping space.

But if nothing else, it offered food for thought. Tsimikas had his moments, including a lovely Alexander-Arnold-esque ball floated over to Ben Doak — and above all, it wouldn't be pre-season without little innovations like this.

Attacking options galore

Many expected Liverpool's level to dip dramatically in the second half, and the early goal conceded appeared to confirm that. But almost immediately after that, Klopp's changed side began to assert itself, perhaps even more than its first-half counterpart.

Especially notable was the quality of the attack. Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota would of course be completely at home in the starting line-up of any given competitive fixture this season, and in truth Doak looked very comfortable too.

It was the established pair who combined for the Liverpool equalizer, with Jota using his unerring aerial quality to knock it down to a very composed Gakpo. That duo then dovetailed to win the game — before the Portuguese grabbed a rapid-fire fourth to really rub it in.

But the young Scot was a livewire too, and it underlined how many viable options Klopp has in his front line ahead of the new campaign.