Darwin Nunez scare explained, Mohamed Salah's new look…

Darwin Nunez scare explained, Mohamed Salah's new look and two more things spotted at Liverpool training in Thailand

Liverpool have been given a warm welcome as they begin in earnest their preparations for the new season.

The Reds are in Thailand for the first leg of their tour of the Far East in which they will play bitter rivals Manchester United for the Bangkok Century Cup.

Jurgen Klopp put his players through their paces at the Rajamangala National Stadium on Monday evening ahead of the following day’s match.

But what could be gleaned from the session?

Nunez the star

There was plenty of whooping and cheering from the few hundred Liverpool fans fortunate to be given a ticket to watch the open training session here.

But the biggest noise was reserved for new boy Darwin Nunez, who was making his first public outing on the pitch since his summer move from Benfica and was regularly given advice by fellow Portuguese speaker and Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders.

There was concern, then, when the Uruguayan sat out the final part of the session with what was later confirmed an issue with blisters on his left foot. Fans here will hope the issue – most likely caused by his boot – doesn’t deny him minutes against United on Tuesday.

Salah’s new look

Perhaps it was the light, a change to mark signing his new contract or just time spent in the warm weather during the summer. But there appeared to be a ginger hue to the new hairdo being sported by Mohamed Salah.

While Salah was another to prompt cheers when he smashed one home off the underside of the crossbar, even he was overshadowed by Virgil van Dijk who nonchalantly slotted home a succession of finishes.

That is until the Dutchman attempted a no-look effort that was fielded by goalkeeping coach Taffarel. You can’t kid a World Cup winner, it seems.

Duo go jogging

Nunez wasn’t the only player not to take full part in the session here in Thailand.

With the players split into several different sections, both Diogo Jota and Thiago Alcantara spent much of the middle part of the 90-minute session jogging around parts of the pitch.

There is no suggestion of injury issues for either of the pair - both only linked up with the squad on Saturday while Jota was recovering a hamstring issue suffered while on international duty in the summer - but it does make it unlikely either will feature against United.

Youngsters given chance

With a 37-man squad having travelled to the Far East, it’s clear Klopp is going to limit the minutes of his senior players, many of whom only started pre-season when joining up with the party in Thailand.

That means there will be opportunities for the array of youngsters on display here, including Isaac Mabaya, James Norris and goalkeepers Harvey Davies and Fabian Mrozek.

This tour will be a positive experience for so many of the first-team hopefuls, who were given a taste of the fervour of Liverpool followers from across the globe.

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