Liverpool handed Manchester United an early warning ahead of the new season with a 3-0 win at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Arne Slot enjoyed a comfortable victory in his first meeting with United as Liverpool manager thanks to goals from Fábio Carvalho, Curtis Jones and KostasTsimikas.
United start their campaign against Manchester City in the Community Shield next week.
And while manager Erik ten Hag will have been pleased with some of the football played in the first half, the Dutchman will be concerned at seeing his team spurn a number of opportunities.
Rasmus Højlund is set to miss the next six weeks with a hamstring injury picked up in the first game of the U.S. tour against Arsenal and without him United couldn’t make the most of their chances.
Jadon Sancho struggled to make an impact as he was deployed as the No.9 for a second game in a row and Ten Hag faces a decision about whether to start new signing Joshua Zirkzee, who is training at Carrington, against City at Wembley.
Ten Hag also has another injury worry after Harry Maguire was left out of the squad as a precaution.
Slot, meanwhile, will be pleased with Mohamed Salah’s involvement. The Egyptian forward looked sharp on Liverpool’s right side and created the second goal for Jones in front of a sell-out crowd of 77,559 in Columbia — the highest ever attendance for a soccer match in the Carolinas.
