Having already sealed their qualification to the round-of-sixteen of the UEFA Europa League, Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool travelled to Belgium on Thursday to face Union Saint-Gilloise. Ryan Gravenberch and Diogo Jota had scored in the reverse fixture at Anfield in October to hand the Reds a 2-0 win.
USG: Moris; Machida, Burgess, Mac Allister; Lapoussin, Sadiki, Amani, Castro-Montes; Puertas; Amoura, Nilsson
LIV: Kelleher; Chambers, Quansah, Konaté, Bradley; Jones, Endo, Elliot; Doak, Gakpo, Gordon
With qualification already confirmed, Jürgen Klopp was afforded the opportunity to name a rotated side for Liverpool’s Belgian clash – offering experience to younger fringe players whilst preserving the fitness of his preferred starters ahead of a chaotic Christmas period.
It would perhaps make sense then that the Reds were no match for Union Saint-Gilloise, who thundered themselves into the lead after just over 30 minutes, with Mohamed Amoura rounding Caoimhin Kelleher to open the scoring.
Embed from Getty ImagesTheir lead lasted just seven minutes before Jarell Quansah smashed an effort past Moris from inside the penalty area, but USG would be quick to answer and Cameron Puertas’ low strike ensured they held the advantage at the break.
Puertas looked to have scored his second of the evening in the second half, but VAR disallowed his strike for an apparent handball in the buildup.
USG will now turn their attention to the UEFA Europa Conference League playoffs in February, while Liverpool’s hiatus from European football will continue until the round-of-sixteen kicks off in March.
