A young and rotated Liverpool side fell to a 2-1 defeat in Belgium in a Europa League dead rubber.
With Liverpool already qualified as Group E winners, therefore advancing into the round of 16 of the Europa League, there was little-to-no pressure when the Reds faced off against Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium.
Liverpool won 2-0 against Union SG in the reverse fixture at Anfield, with midfielder Ryan Gravenberch scoring his first goal for the club.
The Liverpool gaffer named a heavily rotated line-up for the match, with the result of the game inconsequential to the Reds’ position in the competition.
Wataru Endo was the only Liverpool player to start who was aged over the age of 25 years old. Forward Kaide Gordon was given his first start since 2022.
It would be Union Saint-Gilloise to bag the first goal of the evening, with Mohamed Amoura taking advantage of sloppy defending from Liverpool. The match may have been a dead rubber for the Reds, but Union SG had something to fight for: Europa Conference League knock-out football.
The young Liverpool side would find an equaliser just seven minutes later through Jarell Quansah, the 20-year-old centre-back who has burst into Jurgen Klopp’s first team regularly this campaign.
The lead wouldn’t last, however, as a counter-attack was finished off by Cameron Puertas brilliantly past a hopeless Caoimhin Kelleher in goal. The hosts took the advantage at Lotto Park into the interval.
Despite bringing on more experienced players such as Darwin Nunez, Joe Gomez and Ryan Gravenberch – Liverpool were unable to find anything from the match and ultimately left empty-handed.
Despite the defeat in Belgium, Liverpool have qualified from Group E as expected winners. Their next European foray won’t be until the round of 16 in March.
The small task of facing Manchester United awaits Liverpool in their next fixture. Kick-off is at 4.30pm on Sunday, 17 December.
Union Saint-Gilloise team: Moris, Mac Allister, Burgess, Machida, Castro-Montes, Amani (Eckert 88), Sadiki, Lapoussin, Puertas, Nilsson (Rodriguez 78), Amoura (Rasmussen 84).
Liverpool team: Kelleher, Bradley, Konate (Gomez 46), Quansah, Chambers (Scanlon 63), Elliott, Endo (Gravenberch 46), Jones, Gordon (McConnell 75), Gakpo, Doak (Nunez 63).
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