It wasn’t a classic European night under the lights, but Liverpool made it two wins from two in the Europa League after Ryan Gravenberch and Diogo Jota earned the Reds victory over Union SG.
Liverpool 2-0 Union Saint Gillois
Goals: Gravenberch 43′, Jota 90 2Â
Alisson – 6 (out of 10)Â
Surprise start for Caoimhin Kelleher due to injury; The Reds No.1 didn’t have much to do in the first half, so maybe he was tired when he ran out of the box and couldn’t get close to the ball – luckily it wasn’t expensive and he wasn’t. . when he hit the ball. kick and try after half time.
Maybe Ali just doesn’t care about trophies, but he has his centre-backs to thank more than once as Quansah saved him from a corner.
I finally made a good stop deep in the downtime.
Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7Â
Some nice bench passes from deep and slightly better in sharpness, changing the tempo of Liverpool’s play at times with quick runs past the man. Led the scoring and took the first shot leading to the kickoff before the break. He played for an hour on his first start – and his third as captain since the start.
Ibrahima Konate – 7Â
His first notable contribution came just before half-time when he had to rush past Alisson and get a shot in before it hit the net. A minute later, his strength also showed when he wrestled a dangerous ball away from Union to win a free kick.
After a well-timed save, resumed in the box and showed some more recovery speed against counters.
Jarell Quansah – 8 – MVPÂ
I have to think that professional football is easy – never looking confused, passing really intelligently and convincingly in midfield, not afraid to use both feet and react quickly to clear the ball from the line that Alisson dropped to goal.
A really good fight with Kevin Rodriguez gave us almost the first chance to see real defensive qualities – he did well.
Played for Bristol Rovers earlier this year, now Liverpool in Europe, impressive!
Kostas Tsimikas – 7Â
A couple of good early passes and goals and a bunch of overlapping runs that didn’t always see him pass the ball.
Had a few minor problems defensively but nothing too alarming and helped a lot in the build-up – pretty standard Tsimikas who looked on form everywhere apart from a right footed shot from 25 yards which was a little wide!
Wataru Endo – 6Â
The passing was not very progressive, but took the ball in large areas between the lines and held the ball.
Nothing too big, nothing particularly bad, maybe didn’t do enough to stand out, but it seems to start a little fast at the speed it needs to.
Harvey Elliott – 8Â
Despite his inconsistent playing time early this season, Elliott is in very good form and he did well in the space he was given in midfield here in the first half.
Two powerful forward runs with the ball created gaps for the team and he was happy to switch channels rather than just sit on the right.
He played with a lot of aggression and intent, with real work rate and forward thinking. A quieter second half, but still a good show. Maybe it’s a shame I didn’t start on Sunday, but I was one of our best players here.
Ryan Gravenberch – 8Â
A really great start, controlling the ball and overcoming challenges, then a wild shot that resulted in a disallowed goal. Before half-time, he opened his account for the Reds in the easiest way in his time here, after tipping the ball over the keeper.
It was his first club goal since August last season and he looked very pleased. Curly in almost a second on the hour.
Goals aside, we think he’s positioned himself in the position to fill the void left by the suspended Curtis Jones this weekend, but he’s only slightly ahead of
Elliott. Mohamed Salah – 7Â
Should have made an early one-on-one, well-saved but predictable shot.
His excellent movement and pace made him unmarked and he created chances for Darwin and opened up the defense for two or three chances elsewhere.
He saw no other opportunity coming his way and plunged into the break as he prepared for the weekend.
Darwin Nunez – 6Â
Tracked well but was denied in the 10th goal but missed his next chance on 17′, plus we watched the replays ten times and it sure looks like he didn’t.
Has always been busy and just made constant, relentless runs behind the defense and in the channels, but you just want him to put the whole package together more regularly. However, we are recording it in Brighton, hey…
Diogo Jota – 7Â
Quietest in the first half of the top three, decent enough, but on the fringes of most reds’ best work.
He went down with a header at the best moment after half-time; every game he just looks more like a penalty kicker with his movement and scoring ability, but he is difficult outside the box and lacks the acceleration to beat a man or link up with his teammates too consistently.
Showed just that on the break: unable to hold the ball up the middle but still in the box to finish off the most inaccurate and lucky counter attack of the night with a fine goal!
Substitutes
Alexis Mac Allister (for Endo, 46′) – 7 –
Came on against his brother for the first time and was mostly good, defending and in possession.
Curtis Jones (Salah, 46′) – 7 –
Got run off as he is currently on domest6 suspension but didn’t look too right.
Luis Diaz (Nunez, 46′) – 6 –Â
Looked dangerous at times and generally a decent outing, but it’s just not Diaz’s moment after a great start to the season. It arrived late to the message but was offside.
Joe Gomez (Alexander-Arnold header, 62′) – 6 – Good performance. One nice cross, some good challenges.
Dominik Szoboszlai (for Gravenberch, 78′) – n/a – Not sure he was needed to watch the game, but maybe it keeps his sharpness high. Selected: Mrozek, Jaros, Van Dijk, Matip, Robertson, Chambers, Doak.
Jurgen Klopp
Got a little stronger in the starting line-up and was rewarded with a much more enterprising start.
Clearly stuck to preconceived notions too: three subs at the break and Trent was given an hour to keep some players engaged but fresh ahead of the weekend game with Brighton.
Considering a few injuries and suspensions, it was a pretty decent and risk-free rotation of the boss in a game where we were never really in danger of not winning.
Two games down in Europe, six points on the board and – hopefully – most of the squad ready for the bigger game at the weekend.
From the looks of the second half, he wasn’t too happy with the performance, but it’s certainly not Jurgen’s fault that we didn’t take three decent chances to put the game out of reach.
