Although it might still be some time before the Reds return to competitive domestic action, with the small matter of a visit from Manchester City to Anfield on the horizon, perhaps one of the breakout stars of the season so far was involved in a high-profile clash of his own for Wales.
Lewis Koumas, clearly one of the early winners of the Andoni Iraola era so far, has also caught the eye of former Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy and was chosen to lead the line at the Cardiff City Stadium, as Erling Haaland, of the aforementioned under-fire City, did for visitors Norway.
A 15th cap on the night for the 21-year-old and with it another chance to impress both his club and country manager as the effervescent forward looks to continue to build on what has been a strong start to the 26/27 campaign.
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Just 10 minutes in, though, it was two other Premier League stars combining as Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard found the run of former Man City man Oscar Bobb, who slipped it past ex-Reds’ goalkeeper Danny Ward to give the Norwegian’s the lead.
Wales responded brightly and were nearly level when Koumas found Sorba Thomas, only for the winger’s tame effort to be saved comfortably and the loose ball eventually fell safely.
Despite the disappointing start, it was a superb reaction from Bellamy’s side, and they were level when Koumas once again found Thomas out wide, who this time squared the ball across the six-yard box for the onrushing Dan James to fire home and ensure it was all square at half-time.
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A frantic start to the second half followed as Torbjorn Heggem was dismissed for Norway for bringing down James as last man before former Liverpool academy graduate Williams swept home the resulting free kick to give Wales the lead.
As expected, the game was now wide open and an end-to-end affair commenced with Wales and Koumas, seemingly destined to score on the counter but equally susceptible to Haaland at the other end.
Koumas’ night came to an end on the 85th minute mark when Bellamy introduced Mark Harris for the closing stages; albeit without a first competitive goal to show for it, it had been another strong night’s work from the Liverpool man, full of running, heart, endeavour and intelligent movement.
There was still time for a final rousing rendition of the Welsh national anthem to help the hosts over the line, and it was to be a successful night as Bellamy’s side saw out the additional three minutes and earned three UEFA Nations League points, their first of the campaign.
Speaking after the match, Bellamy – who recently said Koumas ‘will be massive’ for Wales – was emotional but understandably delighted with his group…
“Really pleasing. The performance was more important, to look like us. We’ve worked hard to get to Nations League A, and we know the teams are littered and loaded with good players. I know we’ve got a lot of players out, but we still have to be us. So that was nice and was pleasing.
“The last few days in training, we had an identity meeting. I have to give credit to the players; they’ve been brilliant.
“What do we want to do? Do we want to sit deep and play on counter-attacks, or do we want to be aggressive and be on the front foot and keep the ball when we have it?
“That’s really it. I think that’s us. We do have to punch above our weight, but let’s give it a right go. That’s always been brought to me as a Welsh person growing up.”
