Virgil van Dijk was watching as Liverpool's U18s won 7-0 against Sunderland, with new signing Dara Jikiemi making his debut and Finn Inglethorpe netting a hat-trick

Virgil van Dijk watched from the balcony at the AXA Training Centre at Liverpool U18s beat Sunderland by seven goals to nil on Saturday, with Finn Inglethorpe netting a hat-trick.

Losing 6-3 to Manchester United last time out, Simon Wiles' side eventually flooded in the goals, though both teams hit the crossbar early on — Sunderland through Caleb Shakespeare after a goalmouth scramble — and it was goalless at half-time.

Inglethorpe got the first of his three a few minutes after the restart, heading home from a good cross. Daniel Majekodunmi added the second with around an hour on the clock.

Inglethorpe made it 3-0 and despite the result being done by that point, the Reds continued to plunder the goals.

Erik Farkas added his name to the scoresheet to make it 4-0 and Inglethorpe completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot.

Farkas got his second on 87 minutes via a well-struck free-kick, and then Lenix Conde made it 7-0 before second-half stoppage time.

That capped an impressive performance in which new signing Dara Jikiemi, a 16-year-old center-back, made his debut.

Liverpool U18s host Ipswich Town next, in the Premier League Cup. That is next Saturday (November 7) at the Academy.

"That was great to see but this is what the job is, isn't it?" Wiles said after a few of his players were involved with the first team during pre-season.

"Us, as a group of staff, we all work tirelessly with the players day in, day out, and when they progress to that next step and opportunities come, we always speak to them about always being ready.

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"You never know when that opportunity comes along, and making sure they are in the best possible place they can be.

"To see that happen and to see that progression so far, it has been really exciting for them and also great for everybody at the Academy.

I've been pleased with firstly how they have conducted themselves into their job and some of the performances from them have been really good. I'm really excited with the group we have got, so let's see where we can get them to."