Liverpool were held to a goalless draw by Bury at Gigg Lane in their third pre-season outing on Saturday afternoon.
The Reds had a couple of attempts blocked on the line and their League Two opponents clipped the outside of the post.
There was also a late chance for Rafael Camacho, but he could not find a way past substitute goalkeeper Matthew Hudson.
Relive how the 90 minutes of action unfolded with Sports Mole's live text coverage below.
RESTART! We are back under way at Gigg Lane, where Liverpool have made a whole raft of changes. In fact, I make it a whole new outfield, with Loris Karius the only player to retain his place.
Liverpool made easy work of Chester FC this time last week, running out 7-0 winners at the Deva Stadium, before holding on to claim a 3-2 win against Tranmere Rovers in midweek. Bury, meanwhile, lost to Rangers eight days ago and followed that up with a defeat to Huddersfield Town here a few days back. As far as pre-season tests go, they do not come much tougher than this.
LIVERPOOL TEAM NEWS!
STARTING XI: Karius; Clyne, Van Dijk, Matip, Moreno; Milner, Fabinho, Jones; Ojo, Origi, Sturridge
SUBS: Grabara, Keita, Gomez, Klavan, Lallana, Robertson, Solanke, Kent, Phillips, Woodburn, Camacho, Chirivella
These early pre-season fixtures are all about players finding their fitness, of course, and Jurgen Klopp named two XIs - one for either half - against Chester and Tranmere. That does not appear to be the case today, so those starting may well be given an hour or so to prove themselves. In the case of goalkeeper Loris Karius, he is expected to play the full 90 minutes as Danny Ward is not included in the squad.
Nathaniel Clyne and Alberto Moreno are fielded at full-back, while Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip are used for the first time this summer at centre-back. Matip picked up a thigh injury towards the end of last season, you may remember, but he has finally managed to shake that off and will get some minutes under his belt today. Van Dijk, meanwhile, was given an extended rest after representing the Netherlands in early June.
Fabinho and Naby Keita were used together in the first half of the Tranmere friendly, but the latter starts this one on the bench - we may see a like-for-like change at the interval as both players are eased in. James Milner and Curtis Jones - the latter of whom impressed against Chester last week - will slot in alongside new recruit Fabinho in what is presumably a midfield three.
Sheyi Ojo, Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge will lead the line for the visitors this afternoon. Sturridge netted a brace in his first summer outing and will feel that he has a point to prove after being shipped out to West Bromwich Albion in January. Ojo's future may lie elsewhere, temporarily at least, with loan offers thought to have been tabled, while Origi has a lot to do if he is to force his way back into the reckoning come the start of the campaign.
BURY TEAM NEWS!
STARTING XI: Murphy, McFadzean, Cooney, Thompson, O'Connell, Mayor, Dagnall, Aimson, Danns, Styles, Omotayo
SUBS: Hudson, Moore, Adams, Dawson, Bunn, Whelan, Archer, Nyaupembe, Dai, Shotton
Bury boss Ryan Lowe has been busy bringing in some new players ahead of the 2018-19 campaign, with Gold Omotayo the latest to join the club. The 24-year-old clearly impressed during his two-week trial and was handed a one-year deal on Friday. Omotayo has a chance to show Shakers fans what he is all about as he is one of the newbies to start today, though Matthew Hudson is on the bench.
Tom Miller is another of the six new signings made by Lowe over the past few weeks, but he is not involved today. Three players were on trial against Huddersfield in midweek, with Omatayo joined by left-back Callum McFadzean and midfielder Tom Whelan. We can surely expect to see those two at some point over the next couple of hours, as Lowe needs to run the rule over each member of his squad.
Virgil van Dijk, the world's most expensive defender, features for Liverpool for the first time this summer. The centre-back, who was given an extra week off due to international commitments with the Netherlands, will partner Joel Matip - another we have yet to see since last season - in the heart of defence at Gigg Lane.
Bury will be competing in the League Two next season after being relegated last time out. Ryan Lowe is tasked with guiding the club back to the third tier of English football after being given the job in January following Chris Lucketti's dismissal. Lowe had previously been in a player-coach capacity with the Shakers once Lee Clark had been sacked in October last year.
The Shakers won just eight games in League One last season on their way to being relegated, seven of which came here at Gigg Lane. They finished 15 points adrift of Rochdale in 20th, seeing their fate confirmed during a run of seven successive defeats in the spring. Bury did, however, put together a four match unbeaten run to see out the 2017-18 campaign, possibly providing some hope of better things to come.
Lowe's men have already played twice this summer, losing 6-0 to Rangers in a high-profile friendly - what with it being Steven Gerrard's first game in charge of the Scottish giants - and 4-0 to Huddersfield Town on Tuesday evening. It is worth remembering that Bury have only been back in training for a little over a week, so they have certainly been thrown in at the deep end.
This friendly against Liverpool will be Bury's toughest of pre-season, although they do have the Reds' Merseyside rivals Everton to face in a few days' time, too. Rangers, Huddersfield, Liverpool and Everton - Lowe is certainly not settling for any easy fixtures to rebuild his side's fractured confidence! The downside is that the Shakers will likely enter the season without any wins to their name; the positive is that they will not face any league opponents nearly as difficult to overcome.
All this is in preparations for the visit of Yeovil Town on August 4 - yes, the new season really is just a few weeks away - before a trip to MK Dons in the league and Nottingham Forest in the first round of the EFL Cup. Lowe has made clear that these summer friendlies are being used as a chance to experiment and improve fitness, and he believes that his players looked sharper against Huddersfield.
Bury may have looked sharper, in the view of Lowe, but they were three goals down to the Terriers by half time. Huddersfield played a different XI in both halves, with 12 of their 22 players being given at least 10 Premier League starts last season. It remains to be seen whether Liverpool will do likewise today, although it appears more likely that Klopp will wait until the hour before making mass changes.
As mentioned a little earlier, Bury had a few trialists in their ranks against Huddersfield, and half a dozen new players have been recruited. This is very much a settling in period, then, with Jermaine Beckford also waiting to be integrated back into the side. Ryan Lowe also made a signing of a different kind earlier this week, bringing in Rob Kelly as his assistant manager.
Kelly brings plenty of experience with him, having previously managed Leicester City for a year and enjoyed spells with Preston North End, Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest, West Bromwich Albion and most recently Fleetwood Town. Lowe will now be hoping that he has found the right balance, as he felt that too many players lacked the desire required for large parts of last season.
Bury will start the 2018-19 season as sixth favourites for promotion from League Two behind MK Dons, Notts County, Mansfield, Lincoln and Northampton. Following such a disappointing campaign last time out - just eight wins all year, remember - Lowe knows that his side have to hit the ground running in August or else the losing mentality really will set in.
Liverpool have now been back in training for a fortnight and already have a couple of games under their belt, having seen off Chester FC 7-0 last week and Tranmere Rovers 3-2 on Tuesday evening. The Reds are still without a number of last term's key men, including the front-three trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
Salah and Mane, as well as Marko Grujic, will all join up with the Reds in time for the second leg of their pre-season campaign in the United States. Roberto Firmino will be back with Liverpool when they travel to France at the end of the month for a short training camp, meanwhile, and Simon Mignolet and Dejan Lovren will be the last to arrive. The duo, still competing in the World Cup, will have just a week's training before the season officially begins.
A chance for some youngsters and fringe players to impress today, then, but Klopp was not happy with the performance of his side in the first half against Chester at the Deva Stadium last week. The German felt that the tempo was far too slow, although that was a tad harsh as it is the first football his players have played in five weeks since the Champions League final - even longer for some!
Harry Wilson netted twice in the first half and his reward was a new long-term contract, although a loan move may be forthcoming later this summer. Daniel Sturridge, who spent the second half of 2017-18 at West Brom, is another who took his chance by netting a brace of his own, while Ryan Kent scored the goal of the game, James Milner netted a penalty and Danny Ings converted from close range.
There is no Ings today, incidentally, presumably because of the foot injury he recently picked up. Liverpool started well against Tranmere in midweek, finding themselves three goals up in just over half an hour through Rafael Camacho, Sheyi Ojo and Adam Lallana, before a Loris Karius error gifted Jonny Smith a goal. Amadou Soukouna netted a second soon after to leave the Reds holding on for a 3-2 win.
Liverpool will follow up this third pre-season outing with a game against Blackburn in midweek before jetting off to America. As part of their Stateside visit, the Reds will take on Borussia Dortmund in North Carolina on July 22, Manchester City in East Rutherford on July 26 and Manchester United in Michigan on July 28. The Reds' friendlies will get a little tougher in the second half of the month, then, as they test themselves against some of the best Europe has to offer.
There are also a couple of home games against Napoli and Torino pencilled in for the week before their first Premier League match at home to West Ham United. Then comes games against Crystal Palace, Brighton & Hove Albion, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur ahead of the first international break of the season in mid-September. It is a nice set of fixtures to ease themselves into Klopp's third full campaign.
With kickoff now a little over five minutes away at Gigg Lane, let us check out some pre-match thoughts from both camps.
Ryan Lowe: "We're slowly finding out about formations and personnel but we got fitness out of it as well. We know that playing these big clubs, we're not going to beat them by two or three, but I'd like to think we looked a bit fitter and sharper than Friday night. We got in the opposition's half a bit more than on Friday night so it's slowly but surely coming together. Bury aren't used to playing these big clubs pre-season. It could have been easy to go and play Warrington, Nantwich, Ramsbottom, Radcliffe, Chester and Southport. You'd probably win all the games and get nothing out of it, so what it is for us now is a learning curve over the next week. We've got Liverpool and Everton now and hopefully it'll come to fruition against Radcliffe, Chester and Southport. Pre-season is a learning curve and the good thing is, nothing counts on it."
Jurgen Klopp "It's still early stages. A lot of teams started only yesterday and we are already eight or nine days in. We want to use that time, we don't want to make early tests in the games and say: 'that's not enough'. We only want to play as often as possible and work with the results and the performances. As long as it's fair and they cause us problems, it's good for us. I don't think Tranmere caused us too many problems, we caused our problems ourselves but that's part of football as well. It was a nice atmosphere, the pitch was really good. I liked the game. Now let's do the next step. It's much more important in the pre-season what we do in the sessions. In the games sometimes you see a little bit of it, sometimes not. You need to play football with instinct and we create this kind of instinct again. A lot of players will come back now in the next eight or nine days and then we have the next group and we are in America, they'll then start training and all that stuff. It's kind of a challenge but it's the same for all the other teams as well. The plan is to be stronger after pre-season than before pre-season, reach the level from last year again and use that as a basis for the next step."
Klopp acknowledges that his side still have plenty of time before getting their campaign under way in a month's time. The German also feels that Liverpool "caused their own problems" against Tranmere, with a couple of errors leading to the opposition's two goals in a 3-2 away win at Prenton Park. There are two more games to come this week, so the time for getting errors out of the system is now.
Bury boss Lowe was happier with his side's performance against Huddersfield on Tuesday compared to the 6-0 rout at the hands of Rangers. The Shakers face Liverpool and Everton over the next few days, so the calibre of opposition certainly does not get any easier. Following relegation from League One last time out, and two heavy friendly losses, confidence cannot be all that high.
KICKOFF! We are up and running at Gigg Lane in Liverpool's third pre-season outing. Bury will be looking to pull off a big scalp in front of their home fans, although heavy defeats over the past eight days to Rangers and Huddersfield Town suggest that this may be one-sided.
The Shakers seeing a fair bit of the ball in the early stages here. Klopp confirmed to Liverpool TV ahead of the match that Danny Ward will start against Blackburn on Thursday, explaining his absence from the squad today. Harry Wilson is absent due to interest from other clubs.
Wilson is one of a handful of youngsters looking to stake a claim for regular football next season, although Klopp clearly feels that his football will be enhanced away from Anfield once again. Neil Danns goes in hard on Alberto Moreno.
Milner floats a nice free kick into the opposition box, but it is calmly nodded into the path of Joe Murphy to collect. No shots from either side in the opening seven minutes of the match at Gigg Lane, with the Reds yet to find their rhythm.
SAVE! The game's first clear-cut chance falls the way of Divock Origi, who is played through on goal but cannot find a way past Joe Murphy. Good goalkeeping, as he read the danger and was quickly off his line to close the angle.
CHANCE! Thompson does well to get to the ball ahead of Sturridge at the expense of a corner. From the set-piece, Joel Matip met the ball but could not direct it on target from seven yards out - he should have been doing better.
Liverpool had a good five-minute spell when creating those chances for Origi and Lovren, but Bury have settled down a little more over the past couple of minutes. The Reds are the side, understandably, who are controlling possession.
A cross into the box from the left, where Liverpool are having a fair bit of joy early on, is collected by Murphy in the Bury goal. The Reds are probing away at the moment but are not getting any rewards, with the Shakers standing firm.
Liverpool scored seven goals against Chester last week but they were made to wait for their first. The Reds the side asking all the questions so far in an attacking sense, but they have only really created one opportunity from open play.
Callum McFadzean was nearly in behind but he could not control the ball when it was played into his path. This is looking like being the toughest of Liverpool's three friendlies so far, with the Shakers giving little away.
Callum McFadzean was nearly in behind but he could not control the ball when it was played into his path. This is looking like being the toughest of Liverpool's three friendlies so far, with the Shakers giving little away.
Plenty of 'nearly' moments for Liverpool so far at Gigg Lane. The hosts have yet to really offer much in an attacking sense, although Ryan Lowe will be happy to have restricted the Reds to minimal chances in the opening quarter of the game.
Nearly a quarter of this pre-season friendly played and there has been little action so far. Liverpool are continuing to knock the ball around but are not having any real luck in breaking down their opponents, who have already shipped six to Rangers and four to Huddersfield.
The players are given a chance to take on some fluids in the blistering heat. Klopp is unlikely to make mass changes at the break today, unlike in the wins over Chester FC and Tranmere Rovers earlier this week.
Callum McFadzean was nearly in behind but he could not control the ball when it was played into his path. This is looking like being the toughest of Liverpool's three friendlies so far, with the Shakers giving little away.
Callum McFadzean was nearly in behind but he could not control the ball when it was played into his path. This is looking like being the toughest of Liverpool's three friendlies so far, with the Shakers giving little away.
Alberto Moreno does well to get in behind down the left and manages to pick out Sheyi Ojo with his cutback. Adam Thompson was well positioned to twice block the ball before it could reach the target.
OFF THE LINE! Eoghan O'Connell is now the man perfectly positioned to deny Liverpool an opener. Ojo curled the ball past Murphy but O'Connell had got back and chested the ball clear on the line.
BENCH WATCH!
BURY SUBS: Hudson, Moore, Adams, Dawson, Bunn, Whelan, Archer, Nyaupembe, Dai, Shotton
LIVERPOOL SUBS: Grabara, Keita, Gomez, Klavan, Lallana, Robertson, Solanke, Kent, Phillips, Woodburn, Camacho, Chirivella
Liverpool have stepped things up a notch or two over the past five minutes and they really should be ahead. Lowe will be pleased with the resilience shown by his side to keep the scoreline level.
Klopp would obviously like to see his side take a lead into the break, but it is proving to be a frustrating afternoon so far. Bury have played some decent football at times, too, although they are having to do far more defending than attacking.
A good intervention from Van Dijk stops Dagnall from running in behind. Wonder how long both Van Dijk and Matip will get this afternoon, with back-ups waiting from the bench...
CHANCE! Alberto Moreno with a shocking back-pass towards Loris Karius, which Gold Omotayo read well and pounced on. If not for a heavy touch when rounding the Liverpool keeper, the new signing would have had the simplest of finishes into an empty net.
It is looking like being a goalless first half for the Reds. Klopp will have taken positives and negatives away from the opening 45 minutes, namely his side's inability to enjoy a sustained period on top against League Two-bound opposition.
Nathaniel Clyne, like Curtis Jones before him, sends the ball wide of target from range to bring the first half to a close. Liverpool had the better of things, creating a couple of openings, but at the break at Gigg Lane it is all square.
The first of Liverpool's rare first-half openings fell the way of Divock Origi, who could not find a way past opposition goalkeeper Josh Murphy when played through on goal. Moments later, Joel Matip - featuring for the first time this summer, along with defensive teammate Virgil van Dijk - headed wide from a corner.
Some good defending then prevented Bury from falling behind, as Adam Thompson blocked Sheyi Ojo's goalbound shot in front of goal, before the same player had a curler kept off the line by Eoghan O'Connell.
The Shakers' only opportunity in the opening 45 minutes was wasted by new recruit Gold Omotayo following a poor back-pass from Alberto Moreno, with a bad first touch denying the Bury striker a chance to tap the ball into the net with Loris Karius stranded.
BENCH WATCH!
BURY SUBS: Hudson, Moore, Adams, Dawson, Bunn, Whelan, Archer, Nyaupembe, Dai, Shotton
LIVERPOOL SUBS: Grabara, Keita, Gomez, Klavan, Lallana, Robertson, Solanke, Kent, Phillips, Woodburn, Camacho, Chirivella
BENCH WATCH!
BURY SUBS: Hudson, Moore, Adams, Dawson, Bunn, Whelan, Archer, Nyaupembe, Dai, Shotton
LIVERPOOL SUBS: Grabara, Keita, Gomez, Klavan, Lallana, Robertson, Solanke, Kent, Phillips, Woodburn, Camacho, Chirivella
BENCH WATCH!
BURY SUBS: Hudson, Moore, Adams, Dawson, Bunn, Whelan, Archer, Nyaupembe, Dai, Shotton
LIVERPOOL SUBS: Grabara, Keita, Gomez, Klavan, Lallana, Robertson, Solanke, Kent, Phillips, Woodburn, Camacho, Chirivella
OFF THE LINE! Liverpool are denied with a block on the line for the second time today. Naby Keita, one of the 10 half-time changes, got a shot away but saw the effort blocked by Callum McFadzean.
OFF THE POST! Chris Dagnall breaks in behind Andrew Robertson, who is exposed for the first time today. The ball eventually fell to Ryan Cooney but his effort from an angle hit the outside of the post.
Not an awful lot between the two sides in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. Nearly an hour played at Gigg Lane and Liverpool have been unable to break down their League Two opponents.
SAVES! Ben Woodburn is played through but is unable to curl the ball out of Murphy's reach from the one-on-one situation. Murphy then kept out a well-hit shot from Adam Lallana.
Neil Danns swings in a free kick but none of his teammates could get on the end of it. Klopp has made his 10 outfield changes but Karius may well be replaced in the next 10 or 15 minutes.
This second half has flown by. Twenty minutes in and it remains as we were at the end of the first half, with Liverpool toiling away but failing to really cause too much damage. Bury standing firm, as they have done throughout.
Tiredness may well begin to tell as far as the Shakers are concerned as we enter the final quarter of the game. A raft of changes have just been made by Ryan Lowe, in fact, which should held in that regard.
Tom Whelan was among those to come on for Bury a couple of minutes ago, taking over from skipper Neil Danns. Bury not exactly getting everyone back behind the ball; they are getting bodies forward and have won themselves a corner.
GOAL DISALLOWED! Rafa Camacho has a pop but cannot get the better of Murphy in the bury goal. Jordan Archer then headed the Shakers in front - at least he thought he did, only for the offside flag to rule out his effort. Great delivery from Nicky Adams.
We are now approaching the final 10 minutes at Gigg Lane and, in truth, Liverpool do not really look as though they have a goal in them. Real frustration for the attacking players in the Reds' ranks as they have failed to take their latest chance.
The referee has so far kept his cards in his pockets, and that is no real surprise as this friendly has not had an edge to it. We are now nine minutes from full time and Bury are looking pretty comfortable - this will be a very good result.
Bury are the side currently attacking, clearly not content to just settle for a draw. Liverpool go long but Murphy is able to gather with both hands, and the offside flag would have gone up against Rafael Camacho regardless.
The ball is played into the box towards Phillips at the front post, but he was unable to turn it home. That came at the end of some good play from Naby Keita, who has been pretty much Liverpool's most lively player in the second 45 minutes.
Not really sure what Klopp will take away from this match, in truth. His side have not offered near enough in the final third, but he remains without Salah, Mane and Firmino so that should not be a problem in a few weeks' time.
FULL TIME: BURY 0-0 LIVERPOOL
The referee blows for full time, meaning that Liverpool's perfect start to pre-season has come to an end. They may have scored 10 times in wins over Chester FC and Tranmere Rovers, while Bury conceded the same amount to Rangers and Huddersfield, but there was to be no way through this afternoon as they were held to a goalless draw.
That concludes Sports Mole's live text coverage of events from Gigg Lane. An on-the-whistle report can be found by clicking here, while reaction will be available elsewhere on the side in due course. Thanks for joining!
