STOKE-ON-TRENT, ENGLAND - Tuesday, November 10, 2020: Liverpool's Liam Millar celebrates after scoring the first goal, his second of the game, during the EFL Trophy Northern Group D match between Port Vale FC and Liverpool FC Under-21's at Vale Park. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Ex-Liverpool forward scores on debut to send new club top of Championship

Two years after leaving Liverpool, forward Liam Millar is back in England and helped his new side to the top of the Championship on his debut.

Millar spent five years on Merseyside after impressing in the Fulham academy, starting against Shrewsbury in the FA Cup fourth-round replay win in 2020.

But the summer of 2021 brought a move to Switzerland with Basel, for whom he has played 98 times, scoring 13 goals and assisting another 10.

Deadline day saw Millar then return to England with a season-long loan move to Preston, with his debut coming as a starter in Saturday’s clash with Plymouth Argyle.

It took the 23-year-old just 25 minutes to score his first goal for North End, which proved to be the winner in a 2-1 victory.

Millar had already assisted the opener for Duane Holmes – his cross brushing the fingertips of Conor Hazard before being headed home within 37 seconds – when his own opportunity struck.

With Milutin Osmajic finding the Canadian on the left flank, Millar drove into the box and cut onto his right before bending a finish home.

Despite Ryan Hardie’s second-half strike for Plymouth, Preston were able to hold on for three points which saw them back to the top of the Championship.

Ryan Lowe’s side are now the only unbeaten club in the English second tier, sitting above Leicester and Ipswich with five wins and a draw from six games.

It appears as though Millar, who counts Liverpool loanee Calvin Ramsay and fellow alumni Ben Woodburn and Layton Stewart as team-mates, will figure prominently moving forward.

“It was a dream debut for me, I’m really excited for what’s next in the Preston shirt,” Millar, who was named Man of the Match, said after the game.

“I really hope to keep that continuing and on Tuesday [against Birmingham] we go.”

On his Championship debut he added: “It was good. It was fast, intense, I got a little cramp in the end but everything’s OK.

“Just a fast game and it was a lot different than Switzerland, but I think it suits me more and I’m excited to continue to play.”