19) Adam Bogdan
Solid enough when selected over Mignolet. He looks a genuine improvement on Brad Jones.
18) Lazar Markovic
Bagged early on versus Thai All-Stars and looked sharp thwn, but disappointingly underused by Rodgers throughout, with the manager preferring to hone Jordon Ibe and Adam Lallana’s skills instead.
17) Emre Can
The lung-busting German was with his country at the Euro-U21s early on, so returned to pre-season late with Coutinho and Roberto Firmino. Shone in two reserve fixtures, then bossed the midfield against Swindon on Sunday. It’s unsure whether that’ll be enough to start at Stoke.
16) Roberto Firmino
There was enough in the 67 minutes our Brazilian signing played of pre-season to suggest there’s a serious player there. Firmino passed well, got himself in clever pockets and put the ball on the plate for Benteke – who should have scored.
15) Mamadou Sakho
The Frenchman was very solid against Thai All-Stars and played well versus Brisbane too, scoring against the former. For some reason, Rodgers seems to favour Lovren instead.
