Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson were handed their first outing in Liverpool jerseys but the occasion was spoilt as Championship side Hull City beat Kenny Dalgish’s squad by three goals to nil. Liverpool were in supreme form after a successful pre-season trip to Asia and were being tipped as serious title contenders this season after Kenny Dalgish’s big money signings in the summer but were brought back to ground zero after a disastrous outing to Hull.

Kenny Dalglish

Alexander Doni also made his debut at the KC Stadium but it wasn’t exactly a debut to remember as he was beaten twice in the first half. Manchester United striker Robbie Brady, on loan at Hull, opened the scoring with a superb strike from a distance on 21 minutes. The lead was doubled 13 minutes later after Slovenian international Robert Koren combined with Aaron McLean to cleanly finish the move putting the ball in the back of the net.

Dalgish, keen to give his players match practice ahead of the grueling season, made eleven changes at the break including bringing on new signing Downing. Downing made an impact almost immediately as he shot saved by keeper Adriano Basso. Things were to get worse for the Reds as Jay Simpson extended the lead to three goals with a close range finish as Liverpool suffered their first loss in the pre-season.

Tags: Football, Hull City, Jordan Henderson, Kenny Dalgish, Liverpool, Stewart Downing