Liverpool recorded a comfortable 3-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in a pre-season friendly this afternoon.

The Reds made the perfect start to the match when youngster Raheem Sterling cut inside from the left flank before curling his effort past the Leverkusen keeper to give his side the lead inside ten minutes.

Stefan Kiessling had two good chances to level the sides, heading one straight at Jose Reina before blasting his second high over the crossbar. It was Liverpool who got the next goal, however, as Lucas Leiva pounced on confusion in the Leverkusen box to double his side's advantage.

Liverpool made it 3-0 20 minutes into the second half as a fluid passing move from the Reds ended with the ball at Andy Carroll's feet, and the England international fired in from long range.

Leverkusen did get one back 15 minutes from time as Sidney Sam fired a low shot into the bottom corner, but they couldn't add any more to make Sami Hyypia's return to Anfield a happy one.