Liverpool made it two wins out of two on their pre-season tour of the U.S. with a hard-fought victory over Wrexham at New York’s Yankee Stadium.Rio Ngumoha scored the only goal courtesy of a big deflection 15 minutes from time to send the vast majority of the 42,204-strong crowd home happy.Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Ryan Gravenberch weren’t part of Andoni Iraola’s matchday squad as they stayed behind at the club’s training camp in Chicago, having only reported back for pre-season last weekend.That trio will come into contention for Sunday’s final game of the tour at Soldier Field against Leeds United, along with new signing Jeremy Jacquet, who has been building up his fitness having not played since February following shoulder surgery.With Joe Gomez ruled out due to injury and Federico Chiesa ill, Iraola put his faith in youth on his return to the stadium he graced as a player with New York City FC just over a decade ago. Liverpool’s new head coach handed game time to no fewer than eight teenagers, and they didn’t let him down as the Championship outfit were narrowly defeated.Could Ngumoha operate on the right?The Athletic had reported earlier in the day that Liverpool are preparing to table an opening bid for Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola.The France international is understood to be keen on moving to Anfield. It remains to be seen whether a compromise can be reached between the clubs over the fee, given that the European champions value him at around £145million ($193m).There is no doubting Barcola’s quality, but one of the question marks surrounding Liverpool’s pursuit of him as Mohamed Salah’s replacement is that he plays on the left rather than the right.Liverpool already have plenty of options in that particular area following last month’s signing of Victor Munoz from Osasuna, the exciting development of Ngumoha and the ongoing presence of Cody Gakpo. Even Wirtz played off the left at times last season.So what’s the plan if Barcola completes a move to Merseyside? Did Wednesday’s friendly against Wrexham provide a glimpse into the future?It was notable that when Iraola brought Ngumoha on for the second half, the teenage winger was asked to operate off the right flank. The experiment worked.Rio Ngumoha was a threat down the right (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)Ngumoha helped to inject some excitement into a largely scrappy spectacle. One of the features of the opening two friendlies under Iraola has been the sight of the former Chelsea youngster drifting inside off the wing to find pockets of space.And that was exactly how the deadlock was broken. Dominik Szoboszlai, who has looked fit and sharp, picked him out and as defenders backtracked, Ngumoha was positive and direct. His strike took a wicked deflection off Lewis Brunt, and the ball looped beyond the helpless Callum Burton.Last season was a memorable breakthrough campaign for Ngumoha, which culminated in a senior England debut prior to the World Cup. He’s still only 17 and on this evidence a change of role could be on the cards.Can Elliot’s Anfield career be revived?When Harvey Elliott completed a deadline-day move to Aston Villa last September, he thought his Liverpool career was over.In order to help Villa satisfy profit and sustainability rules (PSR), Liverpool agreed to structure the deal as an initial loan which would become a permanent transfer for £35million if Elliott made 10 Premier League appearances in 2025-26.At the time it was regarded as a formality by all parties, with the former Fulham youngster eyeing more regular game time after slipping down the pecking order under Arne Slot.However, Elliott’s stay in the Midlands turned into a nightmare. With Villa manager Unai Emery doubting the wisdom of triggering the clause to buy him, Elliott was frozen out. He played just 277 minutes of football for Villa across nine appearances (three starts) in all competitions.“Something embarrassing for everyone involved,” was how Emery described it in May. “My apologies to Harvey Elliott are every day in my mind.”Harvey Elliott endured a lost year at Aston Villa (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)It was a wasted year but now Elliott is back at Liverpool and the change of head coach should give him hope that he can revive his Anfield career.In New York, he had the look of a man with a point to prove who is just loving playing again after so long in the wilderness. Operating in the more advanced role in Iraola’s midfield three in the opening hour, Elliott was at the heart of Liverpool’s best moves as he proved a creative force.He nearly capped an eye-catching display with a goal early in the second half when he was denied by former Liverpool goalkeeper Danny Ward from Lewis Koumas’ cutback.With Liverpool’s midfield department to be boosted by the return of Wirtz, Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister, as well as possible incomings, it remains to be seen whether Elliott can force his way into Iraola’s plans for the season ahead. But he’s made a decent start in terms of showing the Basque coach what he’s capable of.Which youngsters impressed?What an experience this was for Liverpool’s young guns.They walked out in front of more than 40,000 fans, including Hollywood actors and Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, as You’ll Never Walk Alone boomed around Yankee Stadium.With senior players either still on holiday after the World Cup or not yet up to speed — coupled with the injury situation — star names were conspicuous by their absence. Only Szoboszlai, Milos Kerkez and Ngumoha of those involved against Wrexham are likely to start next month’s Premier League opener at Newcastle United.But this tour is providing a real stage for Liverpool’s youngsters to shine. You could only admire how the makeshift centre-back partnership of Ifeanyi Ndukwe, 18, and Luke Chambers, 22, performed against more experienced opponents.The same went for how Trey Nyoni performed in the holding midfield role in the first half. So comfortable in possession and spot on with his positioning, Iraola was suitably impressed by the 19-year-old midfielder.Yankee Stadium was a grand setting for Liverpool’s youngsters (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)“Trey is very good on the ball, very calm; he reads the situations well,” Iraola told LFCTV. “We’re forcing him in the work without the ball, in the press, and he is doing very well. You have to ask for the ball sometimes with pressure — and he doesn’t feel this pressure. Even when he has one opponent quite close, he asks for the ball and he’s confident; he doesn’t rush. For me, that is very valuable.”Talented winger Josh Abe only turned 16 earlier this month and whatever he achieves in his career he won’t ever forget this fortnight. He had his head in his hands after spurning a chance created by Elliott early on but he had nothing to apologise for. His potential is vast.Calum Scanlon is also showcasing what he’s capable of on this trip. Even if it doesn’t lead to a place in Iraola’s squad for the campaign ahead, the loan offers he’ll have from elsewhere will be plentiful if he maintains these levels.“Overall we were more solid than the other day (against Sunderland),” Iraola added. “The pitch was quite narrow and there were not a lot of spaces. But I think we had good spells. Today we were more of a team and more collective.“I’m happy because we played a lot of the young players. Some of them had difficult match-ups. I think it’s a step forward. Slowly, we have to add the senior players that are starting to train with us, so we can arrive at the beginning of the season in a good place.”