After a turbulent week dominated by the controversy that soured last Saturday’s game at Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool probably needed a quieter night against Union Saint-Gilloise — and they just about got it.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were far from their free-flowing best against the Belgian side, but they survived some defensive scares to register their second win in as many games in Europa League qualifying Group E.
We analyse the major talking points…
Gravenberch in pole position for Brighton
With Curtis Jones set to serve a three-game ban, there’s a vacancy to be filled in Klopp’s midfield for the upcoming Premier League clashes.
Opportunity knocked for Ryan Gravenberch against Union and he grasped his chance to shine, staking the strongest of claims to start alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai at Brighton on Sunday.
This was just the Dutchman’s third start for Liverpool since his £34million ($42.7m) move from Bayern Munich on deadline day.
Unlike Mac Allister and Szoboszlai, who have proved instant hits at Anfield, Gravenberch didn’t have the luxury of a full pre-season under Klopp to get to grips with exactly what’s required from him tactically.
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The 21-year-old has been eased in gently but the signs are promising. He’s an elegant footballer who is good at finding pockets of space to operate in and is so aware of his surroundings. Quick and purposeful, he repeatedly drove forward from the left side of Klopp’s midfield three.
One strike from him was beaten away by Anthony Moris and the rebound was tucked away by Darwin Nunez, whose celebrations were curtailed by the offside flag.
Gravenberch’s first goal for Liverpool just before the break was a gift after Moris’ blunder, but he got his reward for being alert and reacting quickest when Trent Alexander-Arnold’s strike was spilt.
Only a fingertip save from Moris denied him a second goal after the interval but he still became the first Liverpool player to either score or assist a goal in each of his first three starts for the club all competitions since Milan Baros in September 2002.
A first top-flight start on the south coast on Sunday would be a fitting reward for his efforts although Klopp could turn to Wataru Endo, who was substituted at half time against Union.
Gravenberch’s career stalled at Bayern — Thomas Tuchel didn’t fancy him — but he’s growing in confidence and starting to really look the part at Liverpool.
“I think it’s really obvious how good he is, what a talent he is,” Klopp said. “He’s enjoying himself and that’s very important. Step by step he gets all the confidence back, that’s really cool to see. We thought he might be able to play 90, we want to give him 90, but then we saw he dropped a little bit and didn’t want to take any risks. Everything goes in the right direction.”
Alexander-Arnold is captain class
It was a proud night for Trent Alexander-Arnold, back in the starting XI after a month of frustration and wearing the armband for his boyhood club on a European night at Anfield with Virgil van Dijk rested.
Alexander-Arnold had vowed that Liverpool would respond positively to all the fallout from last weekend’s VAR controversy and he certainly led by example on that front.
Prior to that defeat at Tottenham, Liverpool had found a way to keep winning without their vice-captain during his spell on the sidelines due to a hamstring problem, but his return gave them another dimension.
Drifting into central areas between centre-backs Ibrahima Konate and Jarell Quansah, he pulled the strings as their deep-lying playmaker.
His passing range opens up so many potential routes to goal. One minute he was threading it centrally between the lines to Gravenberch, the next he was switching it 60 yards crossfield to Kostas Tsimikas.
He had the swagger of a man who was enjoying himself out there. Klopp doesn’t have anyone else quite like him. Few managers do.
One clipped delivery from him almost released Mohamed Salah but the ball just skipped off the turf and eluded the Egyptian.
It says much about Alexander-Arnold’s licence to roam that his strike which led to Union goalkeeper Moris’ blunder for the goal came from the left side of the penalty box.
So much of Liverpool’s play went through him. By the time he left the pitch to a standing ovation just past the hour mark, he had 89 touches — more than double Union’s highest player, Kevin Mac Allister (34).
His last contribution of the night was to dispossess Lazare Amani on halfway and halt a dangerous counter-attack.
There was a bear hug from Klopp as he departed and a warm ovation from an appreciative Anfield.
James Pearce
Why can’t Nunez score open goals?
Whatever the outcome, you can be sure that Liverpool fans will invariably shout “Nuuuuneeez, Nuuuneez!” whenever the Uruguay international does something — anything — on the field.
However, even the most faithful supporter in Anfield struggled to stay positive after Nunez’s glaring miss in the first half.
We know this about him already: Nunez brings chaos, he brings destruction, he brings mayhem — but he doesn’t always bring finesse.
After a driving run forward from Harvey Elliott, a neat pass to Salah creates the perfect angle for the ball to be played across to Nunez.
As he is in line with the front post, Nunez’s task is to guide the ball away from the goalkeeper towards the back post, as opposed to a square pass forward if he were starting from a more central position between the posts.
His timing and execution both needed to be right. Unfortunately, the latter was lacking.
Nunez overestimates the sweep to the far post, trying too hard to evade the goalkeeper and missing the target altogether.
Many have said that this is likely to be the season in which Nunez’s scoring goes to another level in a Liverpool shirt, after missing the target on a few too many occasions last year — underperforming versus his expected goals by three goals in the league.
He looks more comfortable on the pitch this season and is still likely to build on his 15 goals in all competitions last campaign. However, tonight was a reminder that he does still have a sitter in him.
At times, he makes the easy look difficult and the difficult look easy.
Mark Carey
Nine changes was a show of strength
With Liverpool’s summer exodus of some important players across Klopp’s reign, there were doubts whether they would have the requisite strength in depth ahead of the new season.
Two months into the new season, Klopp’s nine changes to the starting line-up from Saturday’s Premier League clash — with only Alisson Becker and Salah retaining their place — was still deemed to be a strong XI.
Liverpool haven’t convinced in either of their Europa League games, and their victory here wasn’t secure until Diogo Jota’s added-time goal, but there are many positives to be taken beyond their maximum points tally.
The competition has allowed new signings Gravenberch and Wataru Endo to get match-fit and gain valuable minutes in a Klopp system.
Liverpool’s strength in depth across their front line means that Jota and Nunez can stay sharp and stake their own claim for more regular minutes while Cody Gakpo’s injury keeps him out of the side.
It has also given opportunities to Liverpool’s young talents. Teenagers Ben Doak and Stefan Bajcetic didn’t take to the field at Anfield, but both started in the opening group game, while 19-year-old left-back Luke Chambers was an unused substitute on the night. All three will expect to accrue more minutes in the latter part of the group stage once Liverpool tie up top spot.
It might not be vintage Liverpool in Europe thus far, but Klopp is able to rotate his line-up and keep every player in the squad happy.
More importantly, he can keep everyone match-fit with a testing season ahead.
(Top photo: Virginie Lefour/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images)