This was a friendly, part of the Meiji Yasuda J.League World Challenge sponsored by The Nippon Foundation, the first-ever competitive game between the English Premier League giants and the J1 League giants in Japan. What started as a cagey affair, with Yokohama making the first blood, became a masterclass in opposing half domination by the men of Arne Slot, with newcomers Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike showing themselves, as well as the academy stars such as Rio Ngumoha and Trey Nyonis.
This game was not a standard warm-up; it was a cultural blend of football philosophies. To integrate the high-profile summer acquisitions and blood young talent before the 2025/26 season in the Premier League, Liverpool, who had just come back after a challenging tour of Asia, took the fixture to give it some time. Yokohama, led by manager Harry Kewell, who was a former Liverpool winger, wanted to take their test with the European royalty.
The stadium was filled with more than 45,000 fans, with a sea of red and blue chanting in unison in the summer sun. This was an experience of the rising popularity of club friendlies around the world, which helped in uniting the Pacific divide and provided insights into the changes in tactics on both continents.
With the dust settling nearly two months later, a repeat of this timeline shows why this became something to discuss in the football world: how Liverpool was able to turn the script around, the spirited fight by Yokohama, and the emergence of players who were capable of defining the future. Almost missed opportunities at the start of the first exchanges and a goal rush in the end, in this way, it is possible to show the entire analysis of the match that reflected the pre-season unpredictability.
The Road to Yokohama: Pre-match Buzz and Historical Rarity.
The visit by Liverpool to Asia ahead of the season in 2025 was bold, a combination of commercial activity as well as squad rotation following a 2024/25 domestic trophy-filled season. After defeating Thai and Singaporean opponents, the Reds entered Japan hoping to score a motivating final.
Manager Arne Slot stressed the focus on integration: “It is not about results but rather about chemistry creation, as he said before the match, suggesting the debut of EUR100m acquisition Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen and striker Hugo Ekitike of PSG.
Yokohama F. Marinos, with four J.League titles in its possession, went into this season with a good mid-table standing and the blueprint of attacking by Kewell. The fact that the Aussie tactician, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, was involved added the icing on the cake: “It is most poetic to play my old club–I will respect the badge but pursue the win. The Tridents, featuring stars like Anderson Lopes and the new player Yan Matheus, were looking forward to taking advantage of Liverpool’s jet-lagged defence.
This was virgin land in the past. It was the first meeting between the clubs as there had been none before. Yokohama has done little in terms of European flirting, with a friendly loss to Bayern Munich in 2019 being the most significant, whereas Liverpool has been consistent in their one-sidedness in tours of the Asian continent.
However, the appearance of Kewell created a feeling of nostalgia, as the fans were waving scarves with words printed on them that said Harry’s Revenge. Liverpool was 1/3 in betting odds, but Yokohama’s home ground offered equality.
Liverpool Team News: Liverpool made numerous changes, with Giorgi Mamardashvili in goal, Bradley, Van Dijk, Konate, and Kerkez in the back, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, and Salah in the midfield, and Gakpo and Ekitike in the starting line-up. Wirtz benched but primed.
Yokohama Lineup Lang in the net; Matsubara, Eduardo, and Kamijima as anchoring defence; Endo (former Liverpool) in midfield, irony; Uenaka and Lopes on the charge.
Ambience: Yokohama’s recent cup championship pyrotechnics and guard of honour established a celebratory mood, but got drowned out by the travelling Kop fans of Liverpool chanting You’ll never walk alone “.
This context was fireworks, yet the initial half of it was tempo tension.
First Half: An Infertile Chess Game.
The first 45 minutes were more akin to a probing spar with Liverpool controlling 68% of the ball but failing to break through the tight backline of Yokohama in a 4-3-3. The hosts, fuelled by support at home, went hard and caused changes of direction, which challenged the Reds’ build-up play. The side of Slot was smooth in transitions without the crucial touch, and struck the woodwork once and turned a gilt-edged opportunity away.
There were also high times that sketched frustration to the visitors:
3′ – Early Liverpool Probe Mohamed Salah dribbles down the right, passes across in low to Cody Gakpo, the first-time volley hisses past a whisker. An Egyptian king’s statement of intent.
12′ – Yokohama Threat: Mamardashvili is forced by Anderson Lopes onto a through-ball, and is sprawled by him. The reflexes of the Georgian keeper remain at a level.
28′ – Gakpo Hits the Post: Gakpo makes an interior left cut, unleashes a curling right-footer which bangs off the upright. The best opportunity for Liverpool, groans at the away end.
37′ – Ekitike Flick Miss: Conor Bradley delivers a tasty cross; the new French striker flicks an enticing overhead but knocks it out of the far goal-post. Slot fists his fist–good omens.
42′ – Mamardashvili Heroics: Yan Matheus of Yokohama has headed a goal on a corner, palmed by the keeper with one hand, like Yashin. Halftime: 0-0, yet Yokohama takes the lead in the shots (5-4).
Adjustments at halftime were dwarfed. Slot was an advocate of harder finishing; Kewell was a disciple of discipline. Ekitike was replaced by Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones, who brought pace in the interval.
Second Half: Unleash the Storm by Reds.
When the former was a simmer, the latter was boiled over. Yokohama then had the first blow, and Liverpool then had a furious counter strike, and in the next 25 minutes, Liverpool scored three goals.
The bench power of the Reds became so strong that seven replacements in the 63rd minute overpowered the hosts, with the game turning into a training session. The possession reversed to 72, a rain of shots (24 in total), and the Japanese team was shrinking under constant pressure.
The chronology of the drama is as follows:
46′ – Nunez Squanders: Salah chips a flawless chip; Nunez one-on-one gets it up in the air. There is a general exhalation–old Darwin.
55′ – Yokohama Shock (1-0): Asahi Uenaka creeps back behind Bornu and volleys home with a precision cross by Elber. Stadium goes crazy; Liverpool shocked.
60′ – Endo On, Armband Switch: Wataru Endo (Liverpool alum) nails in Van Dijk, wears the captaincy. Symbolic handover.
62′ – Wirtz Equalises (1-1): Wirtz treads through the beauty; Wirtz dummies and finishes in his debut goal at Anfield. Pandemonium–his EUR100m fee worth making in 10 seconds.
63′ – Mass Sub Chaos: Seven Liverpool changes: Frimpong, Tsimikas, Robertson, Nyoni, Elliott, Ngumoha, Mac Allister rush that. Yokohama reels.
68′ – Nyoni Nets (1-2): Frimpong makes an overlapping run, which results in a low cross; the 18-year-old Trey Nyoni gleefully taps in. Academy pride swells.
83′ – Elliott Caution: Harvey Elliott misses a heel, gets a yellow due to his trouble.
87′ – Ngumoha Seals It (1-3): The young starlet jinks through three, scores smoothly on the assist of Robertson. Goal of the tour?
Full-time: Yokohama 1-3 Liverpool. Two half-stories, and the profundity of the Reds.
Match Statistics at a Glance
Category
Category
Yokohama F. Marinos
Liverpool FC.
Possession (%)
28
72
Shots (On Target)
7 (2)
24 (6)
Corners
4
9
Fouls
12
8
Yellow Cards
0
1
Saves
3
1
These data highlight the superiority of Liverpool after the break, according to the official data.
Super Stars and Average Programs.
Florian Wirtz (Liverpool, 8.5/10): First goal, silky touch – the German genius controlled the game, and the hype is acceptable.
Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool, 9/10): Second pre-season strike; his dribbling was a nightmare amongst defences, and he was being talked of as the next big thing.
Asahi Uenaka (Yokohama, 7.5/10): Poacher finished his finish, otherwise silent.
Giorgi Mamardashvili (Liverpool, 7/10): Important posts, but betrayed prematurely.
Darwin Nunez (Liverpool, 5.5/10): Missed sitter; rusty having gone away on injury.
The Lopes of Yokohama were lost, and the midfield bite of Endo frustrated his former club.
Alumni Reflections and Future Planning: The Ripple Effect of The Pitch.
After whistling, Slot smiled: The comeback is character-forming, we are making something. Kewell made good grace with his loss: “Liverpool was a gentleman, proud of the struggle of my children. Wirtz, holding back his hand with his mic, said: Dream start–Anfield awaits. The X buzzers went off, as the hashtag LIVYOK trended all over the world, and memes of the miss by Nunez went viral.
In the case of Liverpool, it is heading to the first round of the season against the town of Ipswich. The tour has yielded three victories, EUR20m in revenue and an increase in fanbase in Asia. Yokohama, in his turn, takes the defeat as a boost towards J.League championship, with Kewell seeking revenge in a possible Club World Cup match-up.
It was a genial fixture, but one which crossed oceans–the imperial Liverpool of the globe against the manly spirit of Yokohama. With the revolution of Slot picking up, such acts as the strike by Wirtz and flair by Ngumoha are signs of better times. That is the beauty of football: the periods of losing, and the periods of winning, a goal at a time. YNWA indeed.
