Liverpool marked their penultimate pre-season outing with a 2-0 win away to HJK Helsinki in Finland's Olympic Stadium this evening.
It took 73 minutes for the Reds to make a breakthrough, as Divock Origi - who earlier replaced the misfiring Danny Ings - thrashed home the opener from close range.
Minutes later, Philippe Coutinho, who previously missed a spate of chances, atoned for his profligacy as his deflected effort found the net to wrap up the hard-fought win.
Below, relive our live commentary of the clash.
4.32pmGood evening ladies and gentlemen and thanks for joining our live text commentary of Liverpool's emphatic pre-season win over HJK Helsinki in Finland! We're being cynical. But welcome all the same. This is the Reds' penultimate pre-season outing before the hustle and bustle of the Premier League kicks off again next weekend. Tomorrow, they face Swindon Town. In England. Aul' Brendan certainly seems determined to boost his side's confidence as much as possible before things get serious again. And let's face it: when your curtain-raiser is away to Stoke City, Liverpool's morale needs to be tip-top.
4.35pmIndeed, Liverpool kick off their 2015-16 campaign with a trip to the Britannia - the scene of that defeat in the final game of last season. Losing 6-1 to Stoke isn't a result that will be quickly forgotten. Manchester United and Everton fans will make sure of that. But next week's clash with the Potters represents a chance to put things right. Kinda. I mean, it was Steven Gerrard's last ever game and all. Nevertheless, they're certainly well-equipped to banish their Stoke shambles next week.
4.38pmBrendan Rodgers has splashed the cash. Again. But surely their summer spending spree will result in far better things this time around? Having finished seventh last season, and failed to win a trophy, you don't imagine that the Northern Irishman will be in the job next summer if his pre-season recruits go the same way as Mario Balotelli, Dejan Lovren and Lazar Markovic did last term.
4.41pmChristian Benteke. Nathaniel Clyne. James Milner. Roberto Firmino. Danny Ings. Adam Bogan. Joe Gomez. Yep, the Reds have spent in the region of £70m so far, with the signing of Benteke, at £32.5m, accounting for the bulk of that figure. Optimism is high, but it remains to be seen if Rodgers can get them playing. Champions League qualification is a must, isn't it?
4.43pmIncidentally, we won't see either Benteke or Brazilian forward Firmino this evening. Why? Rodgers left them back in Liverpool because they weren't fit enough. Simple.
4.45pmWe've talked about who won't be playing, but let's see who is playing. Team news? Go on then.
4.47pmLIVERPOOL XI: Mignolet, Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Gomez, Henderson, Milner, Coutinho, Ibe, Lallana, Ings
4.48pmHELSINKI XI: Örlund; Peiponen, Heikkila, Baah, Lampi; Kolehmainen, Schuller; Kandji, Atom, Mendy; Jallow
4.52pmLet's start with the Reds, shall we? Why not, and it's quite a strong first XI from Rodgers. Ings spearheads the attack, with Adam Lallana and Jordon Ibe providing wide support, while Philippe Coutinho sits in at number 10. Further back, captain Jordan Henderson and James Milner sit in midfield, in front of a defence comprising of Clyne, Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren and Gomez. Simon Mignolet starts between the sticks. Not bad, is it? Nope.
4.55pmLet's not pretend to know a whole lot about the Helsinki XI. But watch out for Demba Savage if he comes on. He is a Gambian winger that has netted 40 times in 99 league appearances. Quite decent. I know what you're really thinking: does he have Demba Ba's face and Robbie Savage's hair? We wish, but no.
4.58pmRight, what else do we know about HJK Helsinki then - and can they actually test Liverpool tonight? Well, probably not, but who knows! With 27 Finnish league titles, Helsinki - nicknamed 'The Club' - are far and away their country's strongest team at the moment. They've only won SIX titles in a row, with a seventh surely on the way.
5.02pmAs it stands, Mika Lehkosuo's men are two points clear of RoPS at the summit of the Veikkausliiga. Thank god this is a text commentary.
5.05pmSure, Liverpool have about £100m worth of talent in their ranks, with household names and faces that are recognisable from Merseyside to Marakesh, but HJK have something Liverpool don't have: a chance of winning something this season? No...well maybe, but they've also Champions League football. Kinda.
5.08pmThey're in the third qualification round, having seen off Latvian outfit Ventspils with a 4-1 aggregate victory in the second stage. Up next is a tricky away trip to Kazakhstan for a second leg clash with Astana, after the opener finished 0-0 in midweek. Should they advance, Lehkosuo's side would enter the playoffs which, as we know, is one tie away from the group stages!
5.12pmPREDICTION! Some say predicting the outcome of pre-season friendlies is stupid. I say they're stupid. We're going 3-1 Liverpool, with Ings scoring two and, hmm, let's say Lallana for the other one. That's how it's going to be my friends.
5.16pmIncidentally, Divock Origi is among the Liverpool substitutes.
Really looking forward to Saturday's game in Helsinki and seeing more of our great fans #YNWA
— Divock Origi #27 (@DivockOrigi) July 31, 20155.20pmWe expect Benteke and Firmino to make their Liverpool's debut in tomorrow's clash with Swindon at the County Ground. In fact, it's testament to the strength-in-depth throughout this squad that the strike duo are likely to be joined by Bogdan, Kolo Toure, Mamadou Sakho, Alberto Moreno, Lucas Leiva, Emre Can, Joe Allen and Markovic. And Balotelli? Well, maybe he's a lost cause at this stage.
5.23pm
10 minutes until kick-off in Finland. Watch #LFC's friendly with @hjkhelsinki live on @LFCTV and LFCTV GO: http://t.co/tL1rpL0Chl
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 1, 20155.26pmFour minutes until showtime, my friends. Excited? Me too. I fancy a decent game.
5.28pmEven in Finland, 'You'll Never Walk Alone' echoes the Olympic Stadium via the tannoy. Let's go!
5.29pmIt's still playing, while the players wait for it to end in order to get the game underway. No rush lads.
1 minKICKOFF: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're off in Helsinki. HJK, playing from left to right in this half, get us underway.
3 minFairly quiet start to this one. We weren't expecting a fast-and-furious opening, considering it's a rather jovial affair, but it's shaping up to be a slow burner.
5 minSHOT! First shot of the game, and it comes from Liverpool as Henderson runs on to Clyne's cut-back but, from 25 yards, the captain's low drive isn't strong enough to beat Orlund.
7 minCHANCE! First chance of the game now - and it's only from HJK! Tanaka whips in a fantastic right-footed corner, as Usman Jallow gets the run on his marker before heading over from close range. Should've scored. Simple as. Simon Mignolet is as relieved as anybody because we went walk-about a little.
9 minAt the other end, Liverpool have three corners in quick succession but nothing comes from them. Interestingly, all three were aimed at Martin Skrtel, which isn't all that surprising given the Slovakian's aerial threat.
11 minWe've seen very little from Danny Ings in this first 11 minutes or so. He latches on to Lallana's through ball now, but he's called offside. He's always a threat though, isn't he? I saw him plenty at Burnley, and quiet spells aren't rare for him.
14 minYoung Joe Gomez has struggled at left-back in the opening 14 minutes or so. Signed from Charlton, the 18-year-old looks a little nervous, but that's to be expected, isn't it?
16 minCHANCE! Should be 1-0. A slip from Kolehmainen in midfield allows Lallana to drive at HJK's defence as he shapes to shoot from outside the box. However, he squares wide to Coutinho, who looks to cut in on to his left, but has to take it on his weaker right foot and blazes over from a tight angle. Difficult angle, and on his weaker foot, but still the best chance of the half.
18 minSHOT! The Reds well on top now, as Jordon Ibe skims his marker before pulling the ball back for Ings, who turned and shoots but his weak effort rolls into the arms of Orlund.
21 minHelsinki aren't a bad outfit to be fair. They're playing some decent ball at times, but there's not much movement from their forwards in the final third.
24 minIs Bjork from Finland or Iceland? I don't remember, and I'm too lazy to Google. In any case, it's all gone oh so quiet at the Olympic Stadium. Neither team doing much at the minute it has to be said.
26 minGood, strong running from Nathaniel Clyne to win a free kick on the right-hand side. Skrtel is up and it's only a matter of time before one of these deliveries gets put on the Slovakian's nut. Sorry I went all cockney there for a moment.
27 minCLOSE! This isn't far away. Good delivery from Jordan Henderson, as Ings's glancing header goes just wide of Orlund's goal.
30 minVirtually all of Liverpool's play is going down the right, with Nathaniel Clyne and Ibe linking up well time and time again to cause problems. Coutinho, out on the left, has been frozen out of the game a little.
33 minSHOT! This is the first we've seen from Milner, as the ex-Man City man, playing in centre-midfield, drills a long-range shot straight at Orlund, who comfortably deals with it. Dare I suggest that Liverpool, with one week to go until the Premier League kicks off, lack something of a cutting edge. Of course, Benteke and Firmino haven't played yet, but at the moment Ings isn't doing his hopes of regular starts much help at all.
35 minLiverpool's tippy-tappy style in the final third just isn't working. All the players look on different wavelengths. This hasn't been impressive at all. They've only had one, maybe two, chances in this first 35 minutes. Disappointing overall.
38 minCHANCE! This is a really poor first touch by Ings. Coutinho plays him on the right, and but Ings's touch is shocking and the chance goes begging. Is it too late to get Rickie Lambert back?
41 minCLOSE! Coutinho finally gets a bit of space as he drops the shoulder and goes for goal from outside the box, but his fierce strike is deflected narrowly over the bar by Gideon Baah, who has gotten in the way of everything so far. Brave. Nothing sheepish about this bloke.
43 minRodgers has previously said that Joe Gomez would not go on loan, but he may rethink that decision. The 18-year-old has looked shaky in this first half. Very nervous - and if nerves get to him in a nothing game like this, what would he be like in a Premier League game?
6.16pmHALF TIME: HJK Helsinki 0-0 Liverpool
6.18pmThat's all she wrote in this half then. Fairly uninspiring stuff from Liverpool it has to be said.
6.21pmOusman Jallow had arguably the best chance of the game when he planted his header narrowly over the bar. For Liverpool, Coutinho and Ings had decent chances but both passed them up. Overall the visitors are looking rather disjointed and lethargic. Very little creativity.
6.22pmThey could do with getting Coutinho into the game a little more. He's been relatively quiet other than that chance he blazed over the bar.
45 minKICKOFF: Aaaaaaaaaand we're back underway and straight from kickoff Adam Lallana drives at goal before firing just wide of the post. What a start that would've been.
48 minStill all Liverpool. There's a gulf in class between both sides, but they're not making the difference in quality shown by virtue of some dodgy final-third play. It's very uninspiring.
51 minIbe has been very lively but he hasn't excelled in the end product department as of yet. He's worked himself into some fine areas, but the final ball has let him down more often than not.
53 minDivock Origi is among the Liverpool subs. I wonder if we'll see him soon. They need a plan-b option because Ings isn't exactly covering himself in glory here.
56 minSHOT! HJK show that they can still be a threat as Kandji bundles over Coutinho before playing in Yallow, whose first-time effort is comfortable for Mignolet - his first save of the evening. Better from Helsinki though.
60 minCHANCE! Another big chance for Ings, who jumps to reach Clyne's wonderful cross but, yet again, his glancing header is just wide of the post. He's having a bit of a mare here it has to be said.
63 minSHOT! I haven't seen the stats, and HJK fans won't want to because they must be very, very, very one-sided. Coutinho is the latest to miss the target as his first-time effort flies over the bar.
65 minSUB: Liverpool make their first change as Ings trods off the field to be replaced by Divock Origi. Probably about time.
67 minCLOSE! Oh lord this is getting tedious now. There's a multitude of blue and white shirts in the box, but Lallana manages a little shimmy before getting his shot away and it's deflected over the bar. The corner comes to nothing. Will we see a goal? I'm not so sure. I think the Finnish side can hold out for a draw here.
70 minIt's worth noting that HJK aren't the most adventurous football team in the world. Forget watching DVDs of the opposition in preparation; show them the Indiana Jones films. Show them that high risk means high reward. Show them that, actually, being too cautious is a little boring. It's only a friendly lads.
73 minGOAL! HJK 0-1 Liverpool (Origi)
74 minWe said Origi would offer Liverpool for something different - and he's only gone and fired the Reds ahead. It's a good low ball into the box from Ibe as his cross reaches Milner, whose clever first-time flick on the six-yard box finds Origi and the young Belgian makes no mistake as he thrashes into the roof of the net. It's about time!
76 minIt's quite a long way back for Helsinki now, right? I mean, it's only one goal, but they've done absolutely nothing in this second half to suggest that they can score once. Nothing. Liverpool haven't been a whole better but they persevered and that's the reward. Fair dues.
78 minGOAL! HJK 0-2 Liverpool (Philippe Coutinho)
79 minThe floodgates have opened. Suddenly, it's two through Coutinho, whose deflected effort nestles in the middle of the net. Deserved? Absolutely, but it's been a long time coming.
84 minWill we see a third then? We may just. HJK are a beaten, in scoreline and morale now, and they could easily ship one or two more before full time is up.
88 minBoth sides very much going through the motions now and I expect this to finish 2-0. If the referee has any decency he'll blow it up as soon as it reaches 90 minutes. This one has been over for some time - maybe not in terms of score, but in atmosphere definitely.
90 minTHREE MINUTES ADDED ON: This ref must be into S&M and kicking blind puppies in the face etc because he's making us endure a bit more of this.
7.21pmFULL TIME: HJK Helsinki 0-2 Liverpool
7.23pmAnd that's all she wrote in Helsinki, my friends. Goals from Origi and Coutinho eventually got Liverpool over the line after some stubborn resistance from the hosts. Anywho, that's all we've got time for, but we do have live commentary of Liverpool's first Premier League outing with Stoke City next Sunday so do join us then. We have a commentary for EVERY Premier League encounter in fact. Next week. The following week. Every week! We look forward to spending the 2015-16 season with you.
