Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Lille at Anfield tightened their grip on top spot in the league phase of the Champions League with a seventh consecutive win.
Mohamed Salah’s first-half goal put Arne Slot’s side on top and though there was a surprise blip when Jonathan David equalised soon after Lille had been reduced to 10 following Aissa Mandi’s red card, Harvey Elliott’s deflected strike won the game.
Barcelona’s dramatic 5-4 win away to Benfica means that Liverpool still need one more point to be certain of top spot but nobody can now overtake their tally of 21 points after seven consecutive wins. No mean feat given that Lille had been on a 21-game unbeaten run.
Harvey Elliott scored Liverpool’s winner
Slot was able to rotate some stars, substituting Ryan Gravenberch at half-time and introducing Trent Alexander-Arnold late on, and can now go to PSV for the final game knowing that a draw will be enough for a team that remain Champions League favourites.
Player ratings
Liverpool: Alisson (6), Bradley (7), Quansah (7), Van Dijk (7), Tsimikas (7), Szoboszlai (7), Gravenberch (6), Jones (7), Salah (8), Nunez (6) , Diaz (7).
Subs used: Mac Allister (6), Elliott (7), Endo (6), Chiesa (6), Alexander-Arnold (n/a).
Lille: Chevalier (6), Mandi (4), Diakite (6), Alexsandro (6), Gudmundsson (7), Cabella (6), Andre (6), Makau (6), Bakker (6), David (7), Haraldsson (6).
Subs used: Sahraoui (6), Meunier (6), Ismaily (6), Bouaddi (6).
Player of the match: Mohamed Salah.
Liverpool team news
Darwin Nunez started the game after his goals against Brentford with Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah also included in Arne Slot’s line-up.
Player of the match: Mohamed Salah
After becoming the first Liverpool player to score 50 goals in Europe, Mohamed Salah told Amazon Prime:
“Hopefully I’m not the last one. I wasn’t focused on the record before the game. It’s something I’m very happy and proud of, especially because we won the game, that’s the most important thing.
-“Lille had a really good game plan, they were unbeaten for 21 games and were a tough team. They showed that in the first half and second half, so I will give them credit, but I’m glad we managed to win.”
Salah on the similarities between this Liverpool team and the 2019 Champions League winners under Jurgen Klopp:
“It’s different. Different manager, different players. We have four, five or six left from that squad, but we have good talent, players who work very hard, and a manager with good ideas. We are just going to give it a try and see.”
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah celebrates with team-mates Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones
Slot ‘more impressed than crowd’
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot speaking to Amazon Prime:
“We are happy we are top eight. That’s the only thing that tells me something because this league table doesn’t.
“Normally in tennis, if you’re number one if you play the number 24, you know they are not as good as the number 16, but because we play different teams, maybe the number 24 is better than the number 16.
“We want to be on top of the league but we have to wait and see if that’s an advantage.
“As a manager I’m a bit more impressed than I think the crowd, who might have thought it was only Lille. But I knew they were 21 games unbeaten. They beat Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid and, with all due respect, did so without the best players in the world.
“That tells you they are very well organised and difficult to play through. They are a hard-working team, so it was not easy. I was happy with the patience we had, not forcing difficult passes but keeping the ball and having complete dominance.
“The only thing I wasn’t happy about was, for a few weeks now, it was one chance conceded, one goal conceded.”
