Liverpool vs Napoli: 3 Talking Points as Italian giants down Reds 3-0

Despite starting strongly, Liverpool's pre-season hasn't gone as planned. The newly crowned European Champions extended their win-less run to four games as Napoli registered a comprehensive 3-0 win in Scotland.

Although the Reds started the game on the front foot, Napoli seized initiative early in the first half as Lorenzo Insigne curled in a superb opening goal past the outstretched Simon Mignolet.

Arkadiusz Milik added a second shortly after some suspect defending and substitute Amin Younes completed the rout with a goal in the second half as Klopp's men were toothless in attack once again.

Harvey Elliot, Liverpool's newest starlet, made his debut late in the second half and was one of the only bright sparks in an otherwise dull outing for the Merseyside club.

The 16-year-old is the youngest debutant in Premier League and made his debut for his new club with a late second half cameo.

Fellow new signing Sepp van den Berg also got valuable minutes under his belt as he replaced fellow countryman Virgil van Dijk in the closing stages of the game.

The game was largely dominated by Napoli and although it could be argued that Liverpool's performances have been worrying off-late, it's impractical to pay too much attention to results in pre-season.

On that note, let's look at some of the talking points from the game.

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#1 Lorenzo Insigne tormented Liverpool

Lorenzo Insigne was the standout player on the pitch

Liverpool's defense frailties in pre-season were further exposed as Lorenzo Insigne tormented Joel Matip and Trent Alexander-Arnold from the left-flank.

The 28-year-old was up for it right from the get-go and it took him only 17 minutes to make a mark on the game.

Collecting the ball on the left-wing, the diminutive Italian skipped past two defenders and buried the ball in to the bottom corner from outside the box, leaving Simon Mignolet no chance.

Insigne kept growing in stature as the game progressed and was the chief architect as Napoli registered an impressive win over the reining European Champions.

#2 Liverpool's defensive frailties exposed once again

The Reds were uncharacteristically sub-par defensively

On their way to winning the European Cup and a record-breaking tally of 97 points in the league, Liverpool had the best defensive record in Europe's top-five leagues but in pre-season, it's been a different story altogether,

The Liverpool rear-guard has been uncharacteristically sub-par in recent games and questions have been raised about the performances of Joel Matip and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

While the pair's quality has never come under scrutiny, they have been guilty of switching off in crucial moments and not being alert enough in situations.

Jurgen Klopp has often downplayed the importance of results when it comes to pre-season but the Reds boss will be vary of the fact that his backline has been leaking in goals at an unhealthy rate and eager to stop the rot.

Liverpool travel to Evian in France for their final pre-season outing against Lyon and the reigning European Champions will be eager to put their defensive woes behind them as they approach the new season.

#3 The Reds looked toothless upfront

Origi failed to make an impact as Liverpool were downed 3-0

With their first-choice attackers missing, Liverpool's deputies failed to make an impression as the Reds were lackluster in front of goal once again.

With Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane still on holiday after satisfying international commitments, Gini Wijnaldum and Oxlade-Chamberlain started either side of Divock Origi and the drop-off in quality was apparent.

Liverpool lacked incision in the final-third and failed to cause Napoli any problems as the Italians ran out comfortable winners.

The only threat to Alex Meret's goal came from a Napoli defender's wild swing which almost led to a goal, an event that perfectly sums up Liverpool's woes in front of goal.

Although the young Reds came on to make an impact late on, the Merseyside club were sub-par in the final-third, which is understandable in many ways are the trio of Mane, Firmino and Salah are widely considered to be the most potent front-three in world football.

Mane is expected to link-up with the squad early next month and with Salah and Firmino scheduled to report back tomorrow alongside Alisson Becker, Xherdan Shaqiri and Naby Keita, Klopp is set to have most of his big boys back as they prepare to take on Manchester City in the community shield next Sunday.