Darwin Nunez Bags Hat-Trick as Liverpool Thrash Stoke 5-0 in Pre-Season Friendly

Darwin Nunez continued his red-hot pre-season form with a hat-trick as Liverpool cruised to a 5-0 win over Stoke City in a behind-closed-doors friendly at the AXA Training Centre.

The Uruguayan striker, whose future at Anfield remains uncertain amid reported interest from Saudi Arabia and top European clubs, made a strong statement under new head coach Arne Slot, adding to his goal from last weekend’s 3-1 victory over Preston North End.

Nunez netted all three of his goals in a dominant first-half performance that also saw teenage winger Rio Ngumoha get on the scoresheet. By half-time, Liverpool were already 4-0 up against the Championship side.

Summer signing Florian Wirtz, who joined from Bayer Leverkusen for a club-record £116 million, made his debut, playing as an advanced midfielder behind a front three of Mohamed Salah, Nunez, and Ngumoha.

Federico Chiesa, another big-name addition, came on in the second half and wrapped up the scoring with Liverpool’s fifth goal.

Slot fielded two separate XIs for each half as part of his rotation plan during pre-season. Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili started both halves before being replaced in the 59th minute.

Liverpool First Half XI vs Stoke:

Mamardashvili; Szoboszlai, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Jones, Nyoni, Wirtz; Salah, Nunez, Ngumoha.

Second Half XI:

Mamardashvili (Pesci 59); Bradley, Konate, Tsimikas, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Endo, Gakpo; Frimpong, Chiesa, Doak (Stephenson 74).

Liverpool will now turn their attention to their pre-season tour of Asia. The Reds depart for Hong Kong later on Sunday, where they will face AC Milan at the new 50,000-capacity Kai Tak Stadium on Saturday.

They will then travel to Tokyo, Japan, for a clash with Yokohama F. Marinos at the 72,000-seat Nissan Stadium on July 30 — their first visit to Japan since the 2005 Club World Championship final.

With morale high and new signings bedding in smoothly, Slot’s Liverpool are showing early signs of cohesion and firepower ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.

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