Another poor game for Jurgen Klopp’s side saw them lose 2-0 to Serbian outfit Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League. The loss was not taken well by some of the fans, who were yet again disappointed with the way that the team was performing. The side that started off the new campaign really positively, was once again falling apart and the front-three have completely stopped firing for some reason.
After getting quite a few decent chances to score for the visitors and wasting them, Daniel Sturridge was taken off just after the break. He had some really good opportunities during the first half, though he played quite selfishly, it can be said.
Even before the hosts had opened the scoring in the game, the England international had a lot of space to take shots at the opposition goal. Neither did he pass it to some of his other team-mates and the quality of his attempts were really poor, that it forced the Kop boss to take him off immediately after the break.
For a player who has been trying really hard to impress and secure a first-team spot, this was really not the best game and it will do no good for his confidence. Not only did he not play well, his performance in the game hurt the morale of his team-mates as well.
The trio up front looked weaker than ever and the introduction of Firmino made no difference at all, as the Premier League giants failed to open the scoring on the night. The home side lacked the confidence initially, though a couple of goals by Milan Pavkov, in the 22nd and 29th minute respectively gave his team a rather easy win in the game.
This now means that Group C is wide open and any two teams can go through, with both Liverpool and Napoli on 6 points, Paris Saint-Germain on 5 and Red Star Belgrade on 4. Whichever team now wins both their games, will surely push through to the knockout stages of the tournament, with the third going to the Europa League.
Klopp will want his team to comeback stronger and put in a fight against the Ligue 1 champs, though it is quite clear that they are not in the best of form at the moment. The Merseyside outfit will really have to fight hard and the players like Salah, Mane and Firmino need to outshine their opponents.
Another star who was also missed today was Shaqiri and it will be interesting to see, what his return to the team means for them. He might be a first choice to start the match against PSG and a special performance will be needed up front, with the team failing to score even once in this fixture. There will be quite a few changes in the midfield as well, with the likes of Keita returning to action.
With regards to the defence, Klopp will have to find the right combination that he will want to start in the final group games, as Alexander-Arnold was not the most convincing player at the back and was taken off too. Joe Gomez might be one option, while Lovren could be another.
