Darwin Nunez goes from maverick to team player and helps Liverpool escape with victory

Say what you like about Darwin Nunez but he is lethal from 1.51 yards.
The Uruguayan’s poacher’s goal in Leipzig means Arne Slot could have more records than the British Library by the end of his first season. The Dutchman has guided his side where no Liverpool team has been before by winning eleven of their first twelve games of a season, including six consecutive away wins to start a campaign. Another club first.
“We should be proud because so many great teams have worn this shirt and so many great managers have been at the club, so to achieve something that hasn’t been done before is nice and almost impossible,” said Slot.
“But there is something that is much nicer than records and you know what I mean by that; trophies.”
The Champions League triumph over RB Leipzig will linger in the memory for those milestones more than the overall performance, although Slot was more content after this victory than against Chelsea. This was Liverpool at their most pragmatic rather than flamboyant, although one suspects the manager will be as thrilled with Nunez’s latest goal as much as any so far this season.
Liverpool take the lead 💥Darwin Nunez makes sure the ball goes in – just minutes after a RB Leipzig goal was denied by the offside flag 🔴 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/2JeL0osqi6
In the absence of Diogo Jota, Nunez carried greater responsibility to be the team player more than the maverick.
He was a bit of both, in truth, but the nature of his strike  – virtually on the goalline when he tapped in Mohamed Salah’s latest assist after 27 minutes – is of the kind he needs to deliver more. The occasional spectacular effort is all and well and good, but penalty box predators can take a side far. In that respect, his scruffy winner was entirely in keeping with much of Liverpool’s display.
If victory over Chelsea was about a brave rearguard action, being pushed into retreat by a strong opponent, this was more erratic, the best moments sandwiched between a sloppy start and unnecessarily tighter finish when slicker opponents could have meted out punishment.
“We controlled the game in large parts apart from the last few minutes. We needed Virgil and Ibou (Konate) and our goalkeeper,” said Slot.
“If we had left this place with a draw then I would have felt we lost something.”
Liverpool won while giving the impression minds were already drifting towards Sunday’s trip to the Emirates Stadium. How else to explain Slot replacing Salah just after an hour, and also substituting Trent Alexander-Arnold and goalscorer Nunez when his side was trying to see out victory?
Leipzig had their chances. Caoimhin Kelleher made several saves and Leipzig had three goals ruled out for offside – a result of their striker’s carelessness more than bad luck.
“What will they be like when they really start playing well?” is a relevant question where Liverpool are concerned. There have been some complete performances against Manchester United and AC Milan. The pursuit of perfection is ceaseless.
In mitigation for the difficult opening, Liverpool could have been forgiven for thinking they were attending another Jurgen Klopp tribute night upon arrival. The Red Bull empire is still celebrating the coup of appointing their new head of football, and Leipzig coach Marco Rose seemed to be taking the deference to the ex-Kop manager to the extreme by turning up in full Klopp gear.
With his flat cap, greying beard, baggy hoodie and variety of mannerisms echoing Klopp’s, Liverpool’s players must have offered a double-take each time they looked at the technical area.
That may have even explained so much sloppy passing. Alexander-Arnold was lucky to escape on a couple of occasions, as was the wasteful Dominik Szoboszlai. Slot watched on bemused.
Kelleher was most relieved when dashing from his goal to make a headed clearance, offering Benjamin Sesko the chance for a spectacular finish from the left touchline. Ireland’s number one had earlier saved Amadou Haidara’s shot from distance as Leipzig found encouragement from Liverpool’s lapses.
But Liverpool’s firepower is such that a game can be turned in an instant. Cody Gakpo enjoyed himself on Liverpool’s left, and his combination with Kostas Tsimikas allowed the Greek full-back to cross for Salah to head across to Nunez.
From there, Liverpool settled. Nunez should have headed the second from another Gakpo cross, and when he was tripped by Willi Orban he was denied what looked like a clear penalty by Swiss referee Sandro Scharer.
Nunez’s general performance was encouraging, leading the line and linking with his team mates to such an extent his early substitution could be taken as a compliment as he will be unleashed against Arsenal this weekend.
“In the lead up (to the goal) Cody and Mo were just as important as Darwin. But Darwin was strong, comfortable on the ball, fighting if he had to defend, and he made it very difficult for the two centre-backs of Leipzig,” said Slot.
Alexis Mac Allister was closest to adding to the lead when his second half shot from distance clipped the top of the crossbar.
It was a case of job done with plenty to spare as Rose’s Klopp imitation did not extend to rousing his players or supporters for a memorable fightback.
Liverpool stride purposely on, neither haunted by the ghost of their former manager nor his lookalikes.
👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/7xiiSZKsHU
The first time we’ve won our opening 6️⃣ games of the season ✊🔴 pic.twitter.com/C4nD8Lh199
🧤 Caoimhin Kelleher stepping up⚽️ Darwin Nunez giving him the goal he asked for⛔️ Keeping a clean sheetArne Slot reacts to another win for Liverpool 🔴🎙 @julesbreach | 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/7O6b38QTF6
“Liverpool made RB Leipzig look so poor.
“Leipzig plays with high energy. They press high, win the ball, force turnovers and have a lot of opportunities. But I didn’t feel like that happened a lot tonight and I have to give credit to Liverpool for that.
“Liverpool are very much in groove. To know that they can play better while winning a majority of their games, it’s a very nice position to be in.”
“It’s almost disrespectful to call him a ‘number two'”Rio Ferdinand and Steve McManaman praise Liverpool stopper Caoimhin Kelleher – but admit he will have a big decision to make next summer.📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/LrXNjui9GW
Another clean sheet on the road 💪 pic.twitter.com/6jR1RTygTW
⛔️⛔️⛔️ pic.twitter.com/SNVjSKOIwr
Possession: RB Leipzig 43%-57% Liverpool
Shots: 13-17
Shots on target: 6-8
Corners: 5-7
Touches in opposition box: 18-30
Liverpool have won 11 of their first 12 games of a season for the first time in their history…What a start to the Arne Slot era 👏 pic.twitter.com/jT7kFBTMVT
Aston Villa and Liverpool are the only two teams with a perfect record in the Champions League this season 🤝This is how the table looks after three match-weeks 👀 pic.twitter.com/8Fyf4XTYlr
“Liverpool were kind of managing this game, but that might be a really good thing. If you are having this sort of run and nowhere near peaking yet, that’s real good news.
“Arne Slot’s aware of it. There’s more to come from this team, but you wouldn’t think so from the results.”
“Along with the defeat by Nottingham Forest, that was the most disjointed Liverpool performance I have seen this season, but they got away with it.
“It will be interesting to see what Arne Slot says in his post-match interviews, because he is usually very honest about how well his team have played.”
A very English look at the top of the table. Only two teams have won their opening three games; Aston Villa and Liverpool.
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic 
Brest 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen 
Atletico Madrid 1-3 Lille
Barcelona 4-1 Bayern Munich
Benfica 1-3 Feyenoord
Manchester City 5-0 Sparta Prague
RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool
Red Bull Salzburg 0-2 Dinamo Zagreb
Young Boys 0-1 Inter Milan
3/3 in the @ChampionsLeague ✨🔴 pic.twitter.com/a4oHhrwxiT
There is the final whistle and Liverpool win 1-0 in Leipzig thanks to Darwin Nunez’s first-half goal. Three wins from three so far for Arne Slot’s side in this season’s Champions League. Three straight defeats in the competition for Leipzig.
UP THE REDS!!! ✊🔴 #UCL pic.twitter.com/1LKdaZ3MbN
Diaz shoots from just inside the Leipzig box and Gulacsi parries it behind for a corner.
Just two added minutes remaining in Leipzig.
Openda is played through and instead of shooting he tries to lay it across to Poulsen, but plays the ball behind him. The offside flag goes up anyway against Openda, who is cuaght offside once again tonight. 
There will be five added minutes.
Brilliant save from Gulacsi. Gakpo is found on the left and cuts inside. He unleashes a ferocious shot towards the top corner but Gulacsi tips it over the bar.
Just one minute of normal time remains.
Liverpool have given the ball away poorly on a few occasions in recent minutes, which is giving the home fans just a little bit of confidence.
Final Leipzig change:
OFF Haidara
ON Elmas
Openda has the ball in the net but for the second time tonight he is flagged for offside. Henrichs fires the ball across and Kelleher can only parry it to Openda, who taps it in at the back post. The flag goes up and he was offside.
With Salah and Nunez off, Diaz is on the left of the front three having initially come on for Salah on the right. Gakpo has shifted from the left into the middle of the front three and Szoboszlai is playing on the right.
Change for Leipzig:
OFF Simons
ON Poulsen
Simons is limping off with assistance from two members of Leipzig’s medical staff and looks to have injured his ankle. Both sides have now made four changes.
Gakpo shoots from distance but he cannot keep his effort down and it goes sailing over the bar.
Triple Liverpool change:
OFF Nunez, Tsimikas, Alexander-Arnold
ON Jones, Robertson, Gomez
Triple Leipzig change:
OFF Sesko, Geertruida, Vermeeren
ON Baumgartner, Bitshiabu, Kampl
Konate gives the ball away inside his own half and Leipzig drive towards the Liverpool box. The ball eventually finds the feet of Sesko from Simons inside the area. Kelleher makes a great save and then the follow-up shot goes behind for a corner.
Leipzig play it short and in the end Simons has a deflected shot inside the box. It is looping towards the Liverpool goal and it forces Kelleher into a good save to tip it over.
What an unbelievable goal that would have been. It is exceptional interplay between Mac Allister and Szoboszlai, which results in a shot from just outside the box for the former. His effort looks like it is going to find the top corner but it clips the bar.
Openda is played into the left-hand channel and his shot from inside the box is deflected behind for a corner by Konate. But the offside flag is up as Openda is adjudged to be offside as he was played through. Looking at the replays it was a close call and it looked like he may have been onside.
Nunez takes on a shot from the edge of the box which Gulacsi just about saves. It was straight at him but did bounce just before him.
First change of the night for Liverpool:
OFF Salah
ON Diaz
Leipzig have a free-kick not far outside the Liverpool box as Nunez is adjudged to have fouled Haidara.
Simons sends it in but the delivery has too much pace on it and it goes behind for a goal-kick.
After sublime play by Gravenberch in the centre of the pitch, the ball is switched out to the right to find Salah. He cuts inside and tries to find the far corner but his effort goes over the bar.
Mac Allister is down in a bit of pain. He was hit in a rather tender area of the body and I probably do not need to explain where that is. He blocked a shot from Henrichs. He should be fine to continue but he will need a few moments, as all members of the male race will know all too well!
Simons gets into the Liverpool box on the left-hand side and plays the ball across. Gravenberch slides in with a crucial interception for the visitors.
Liverpool should be 2-0 up. Leipzig give the ball away deep in their own half. Nunez gets on to it and plays the ball across the box. Leipzig make a hash of clearing the ball. It falls to Gakpo, no more than eight yards out and he has to score. His shot is saved though by Gulacsi. Quick reactions from the Leipzig keeper but Gakpo should have given him no chance of saving that.
We are back under way in Leipzig. No changes for either side at the break.
How was this not given? The pundits on TNT Sports are dumbfounded as to how Liverpool were not awarded a penalty. Willi Orban got none of the ball and fouled Darwin Nunez, yet nothing given.
“I don’t know how VAR have looked at this and said ‘play on!'” Rio Ferdinand and Steve McManaman were shocked that Liverpool weren’t given a first-half penalty 🤯📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/UoEugqrPSA
Possession: RB Leipzig 38%-62% Liverpool
Shots: 5-7
Shots on target: 3-4
Corners: 1-5
Touches in opposition box: 8-18
After a shaky start, Liverpool will feel they should be more than one-up. Nunez has looked lively since his goal, and Gakpo is terrorising the Leipzig defence. Leipzig had their moments but seemed to lack conviction. They may come to rue not taking the initiative when Liverpool were struggling early on.
Half-time unless otherwise stated:
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic FT
Brest 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen FT
Atletico Madrid 1-0 Lille
Barcelona 3-1 Bayern Munich
Benfica 0-2 Feyenoord
Manchester City 1-0 Sparta Prague
RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool
Red Bull Salzburg 0-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Young Boys 0-0 Inter Milan
There is the whistle and Liverpool lead 1-0 at the break thanks to Nunez’s goal.
One added minute at the end of this first half.
Close for the visitors. Gakpo does brilliantly in the centre of the pitch and finds Szoboszlai. Gakpo continues his run into the box and Szoboszlai finds with a cute forward pass. Gakpo takes it first time but his effort hits the side netting.
Haidara has his second long-range effort of the half but once again Kelleher is on hand to make a reasonably comfortable save.
Liverpool have another corner from the right as they continue to exert pressure on the Leipzig goal. It is another dangerous delivery from Tsimikas but Leipzig get the ball away from danger. Tsimikas is getting good connection on these corners and placing them into dangerous areas.
Tsimikas sends the ball in from the left and he nearly finds Nunez on the penalty spot but Leipzig just about clear their lines.
Nunez goes down wanting a penalty after a clear foul by Orban but the referee waves it away. VAR checks and staggeringly sticks with the on-field decision. That was a penalty and the most ridiculous thing about it all is VAR claiming it checked the incident.
We will not have heard the last of that penalty claim by Nunez if Liverpool do not win this game. Liverpool are well in control since going ahead.
Should Liverpool have been awarded a penalty for this challenge on Darwin Nunez? 🤔📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/IvLdu1dePe
Mac Allister lays it into the path of Alexander-Arnold, who fakes the shot once and then lets rip from outside the box. His effort is deflected behind for a corner.
Tsimikas sends in the inswinger to find van Dijk at the near post. The Liverpool captain is in acres of space and his header is tipped over the bar well by Gulacsi.
Liverpool so close to a second and Nunez nearly scored his second of the night. Gakpo sends in a cross with the outside of his right foot and Nunez leaps to meet it, forcing Gulacsi into a good save. There was a VAR check as Szoboszlai looked like he was pushed but nothing given.
Leipzig thought they had the lead just moments ago but Liverpool do now. Tsimikas stands a cross up from the left-hand side of the box to the far post, where Salah meets it. He heads back across goal and Nunez pokes it in to make sure the ball went in. 1-0 Liverpool.
That goal was not exactly coming. Liverpool had been poor until Nunez’s tap-in. Another assist for Salah, though. That should settle Slot’s side down and there might be an outbreak of quality football before half-time.
Liverpool take the lead 💥Darwin Nunez makes sure the ball goes in – just minutes after a RB Leipzig goal was denied by the offside flag 🔴 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/2JeL0osqi6
Leipzig have the ball in the back of the net but the offside flag is up. It was a terrific finish from Openda into the top left-hand corner but he was clearly offside as the ball was played forward to him.
Another booking for Leipzig as Geertruida is shown a yellow card for a foul on Gakpo. Dutchman on Dutchman. Arne Slot also knows Geertruida very well as they worked at Feyenoord together.
Slot won’t be happy with his side’s passing so far. Far too wasteful, with Alexander-Arnold one of the main culprits. RB Leipzig are showing Liverpool respect, standing off them and waiting for sloppy errors. The visitors have been obliging too often in the opening stages.
Mac Allister finds Salah on the right-hand side of the box. The Egyptian tries to beat Gulacsi at his near post but it misses the target.
Gakpo sends in a delicious ball from the left but Leipzig do brilliantly to head the ball away from danger.
Down the other end Kelleher comes out of his goal and heads towards the touchline. Sesko keeps it in play and, with Kelleher off his line, he attempts a curling shot which just misses the far post.
Leipzig are given a corner, which Konate is furious about. He did not agree with the referee’s call there; he felt that the last touch came off Openda.
Leipzig play it short and take a while to decide what they are going to do with it. It is cut back to Haidara on the edge of the box, who hits it first time and forces Kelleher into a save.
Not long after Sesko cuts it across the box from the right, trying to find a teammate but is unable to and Liverpool can clear.
Mac Allister is booked for a dive and frankly that is a poor decision. Orban made contact and it certainly was not a dive. A yellow card apiece now for both sides.
Liverpool get the first corner of the night as Orban blocks a cross from the byline Nunez, who was played in behind by Salah. Tsimikas sends in an inswinger, which Leipzig do well to deal with as it was sent into a dangerous area.
The first yellow card of the night goes to Leipzig as Lukeka goes in with a nasty, late challenge on former Leipzig midfielder Szoboszlai.
Simons sends in a cross from the left and picks out Sesko in the middle. He somehow has a free header inside the Liverpool box but his effort is straight at Kelleher.
Chance for Liverpool. They come all the way from the edge of their own box as Alexander-Arnold drives forward. He plays it into Nunez, who finds Gakpo wide on the left-hand side. He dribbles into the box and gets past his marker to send in a cross. He has the chance to find Salah at the far post but the cross is too heavy.
First chance of the night goes to the hosts as Simons blazes well over the bar with a first-time effort from the edge of the box.
Leipzig manager Marco Rose has gone full Jurgen Klopp in his look… a bit weird?
We are under way in Leipzig. Can Liverpool make it three wins from three in the Champions League or will RB Leipzig get off the mark with their first points in this competitions this season?
Both sides have emerged from the tunnel and we are just moments away from kick-off in Leipzig.
These two sides met in the last-16 of the Champions League during the 2020-21 season. Both legs were played in Budapest due to Covid-19 and Liverpool won 2-0 in both legs to progress through to the quarter-finals 4-0 on aggregate. Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane both scored in each leg.
RB Leipzig: Gulacsi, Henrichs, Geertruida, Orban, Lukeba, Vermeeren, Haidara, Openda, Simons, Nusa, Sesko. 
Substitutes: Vandevoordt, Bitshiabu, Elmas, Poulsen, Baumgartner, Andre Silva, Kampl, Gebel. 
Liverpool: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Nunez, Gakpo. 
Substitutes: Jaros, Gomez, Endo, Diaz, Jones, Robertson, Quansah, Morton, Nyoni, Davies.
Arne Slot has a radically different approach to Jurgen Klopp during the pre-match warm-up. His predecessor loved to patrol the centre-circle and stare at the opposition training routines – a form of intimidation, perhaps. Slot is currently sitting comfortably in the technical area. Given the temperature drop in Leipzig this evening, my suspicion is that they are heated seats.
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic FT
Brest 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen FT
Atletico Madrid vs Lille
Barcelona vs Bayern Munich
Benfica vs Feyenoord
Manchester City vs Sparta Prague
RB Leipzig vs Liverpool
Red Bull Salzburg vs Dinamo Zagreb
Young Boys vs Inter Milan
Having left Liverpool over the summer after nearly nine years in charge at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp will take over as Red Bull’s Head of Global Football in January. RB Leipzig sporting director Rouven Schroder has been speaking to TNT Sports about Klopp joining the Red Bull family.
“He was an amazing coach… now he wants the next step in his career!”RB Leipzig sporting director Rouven Schroder discusses Jurgen Klopp’s upcoming move to Red Bull as Head of Global Football.🎙 @julesbreach | 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/Fjzai2c8Ml
Let’s get this place warmed up 🔥#RBLLIV #UCL pic.twitter.com/uxA79nttyp
Ibrahima Konate and Dominik Szoboszlai are starting for Liverpool against their former club. In the Leipzig goal is the former Liverpool keeper Peter Gulcasi, who is an international teammate of Szoboszlai.
Between the sticks against his old club 🧤#RBLLIV #UCL pic.twitter.com/afI0l0BIrE
Liverpool expect to receive in excess of £60 million per year when their new shirt deal with Adidas kicks in for the start of next season.
The club are ditching current supplier Nike after a five-year-relationship. A significant financial return is anticipated with the new arrangement to ensure Liverpool earn similar figures to their top-four rivals.
To read more from Chris Bascombe, click here.
They say the older a striker gets, the deeper he ends up playing. Mohamed Salah may be taking it to the extreme by demonstrating he can be one of the Premier League’s top defenders.
“I said to Trent [Alexander-Arnold], you have some competition now because I saw [against Chelsea] that Mo can play as a right full-back as well,” remarked Liverpool manager Arne Slot after Sunday’s win at Anfield.
“The defensive effort he put in to help the team in that part is what pleased me just as much as his goal and assist.”
Slot was obviously joking about a radical positional shift, his observation about the work rate of his lead forward intended to stress how Salah, 32, is leading by example at both ends of the pitch.
Chris Bascombe has the full analysis on how Salah has become one of the Premier League’s finest creators as he matures.
Welcome back, Szobo! 🤗#RBLLIV #UCL pic.twitter.com/5rR48LnG1n
“Strikers are on the team sheet, mostly, for scoring!” 👀Darwin Nunez will be hoping to take his opportunity for Liverpool tonight ⚽️🎙 @julesbreach | 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/Qn7uaFzKXU
📸🔴 pic.twitter.com/JDlTMRQxrF
Poor Curtis Jones. A few days of acclaim after a man-of-the-match award versus Chelsea and his reward is back to the bench tonight. On the positive side, it must mean he will start versus Arsenal. Andy Robertson being rested is becoming a regular occurrence, too. Those hard yards as Scotland skipper take their toll.
Celtic are playing Atalanta in Italy and it is still 0-0 after 70 minutes. You can follow that match with our live blog.
Meanwhile at the Etihad Manchester City are taking on Sparta Prague at 8pm UK time. We will have the action from Manchester covered with our dedicated blog.
Plenty of choice for you this evening in the Champions League.
Liverpool may be top of the Premier League and on the threshold of another club record under their new coach, but Arne Slot is demanding more from his side to sustain title and Champions League ambitions. No Liverpool team in history has ever won 11 of their first 12 fixtures in a season. Nor has any previous Liverpool side won each of its first six away matches in a campaign. That is a target in the Red Bull Arena tonight, but Slot says his side is far from the finished article. Ahead of the European tie against RB Leipzig, Slot referenced the narrow victory over Chelsea as proof of why significant improvement is needed.
“You cannot ask for much more with results but there is always room for improvement. I don’t think we outplayed Chelsea, we certainly did not – I think they were more dominant than us with the ball,” said Slot.“In an ideal world I would have seen us dominate the complete game. We are not there yet. The good thing is, if we face a team like Chelsea and United, you see a team fighting for every centimetre or every moment in the game.I am hoping in the future, hopefully in the near future, we play a game like we did against [AC] Milan or [Manchester] United and become more dominant than we were against Chelsea. Maybe that says a lot more about Chelsea.
“A lot of people in England made a bit of fun about them investing so much money. In my opinion, they have done so well to bring many talented players in. With such a strong squad and manager, they will be up there in the coming years. That’s my opinion, let’s see if I’m right.”
The match could be billed the ‘Jurgen Klopp derby’ after Liverpool’s former coach accepted a role to become Red Bull’s Head of Global soccer from January 1. Klopp will not be attending the game, however. And Leipzig coach Marco Rose will not be seeking inside knowledge of Liverpool’s strengths.
“I will definitely not call him because he is on holiday and he deserves it,” said Rose.
RB Leipzig make just one change from their 2-0 win at Mainz on the weekend. Benjamin Henrichs replaces Lukas Klostermann.
RB Leipzig: Gulacsi, Henrichs, Geertruida, Orban, Lukeba, Vermeeren, Haidara, Openda, Simons, Nusa, Sesko. 
Substitutes: Vandevoordt, Bitshiabu, Elmas, Poulsen, Baumgartner, Andre Silva, Kampl, Gebel. 
Arne Slot makes three changes from Liverpool’s 2-1 win at home against Chelsea on Sunday. Darwin Nunez, Kostas Tsimikas and Alexis Mac Allister come in for Diogo Jota, Andrew Robertson and Curtis Jones. Jota did not travel with the Liverpool squad to Germany after going off injured against Chelsea. Ibrahima Konate and Dominik Szoboszlai both start against their former club.
Liverpool: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Nunez, Gakpo. 
Substitutes: Jaros, Gomez, Endo, Diaz, Jones, Robertson, Quansah, Morton, Nyoni, Davies.
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic (50’)
Brest 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen (52’)
Atletico Madrid vs Lille
Barcelona vs Bayern Munich
Benfica vs Feyenoord
Manchester City vs Sparta Prague
RB Leipzig vs Liverpool
Red Bull Salzburg vs Dinamo Zagreb
Young Boys vs Inter Milan
Here’s how your Red Bulls line up against @LFC tonight 🔴⚪#RBLLIV #UCL pic.twitter.com/nx4b6PEJNV
The Reds to take on RB Leipzig in #UCL action ✨
Good evening and welcome to coverage from the Champions League as Liverpool travel to Germany to take on RB Leipzig on matchday three as Arne Slot’s side aim to make it three wins from three in the competition. Liverpool beat AC Milan at the San Siro 3-1 on matchday one and made it two wins from two against Bologna at Anfield, winning 2-0. Meanwhile it has been a difficult start to Leipzig’s Champions League campaign. They lost their opening game 2-1 away at Atletico Madrid before somehow losing 3-2 at home to Juventus, despite being 2-1 up and playing against 10 men for the final half an hour.
Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 at Anfield on Sunday to remain top of the Premier League in their first game after the October international break thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah and Curtis Jones. Slot has won 10 of his first 11 games in charge of Liverpool but he still feels there is room for improvement.
“You can’t ask for much more when it comes to the results, but when it comes to what we want there is always room for improvement. I don’t think we outplayed Chelsea, we certainly didn’t, I think they were more dominant with the ball. In an ideal world you would have seen us dominate the game like we did so many other games. We are not there yet.
“The good thing about the team and our result is when we face a team like Chelsea or [Manchester] United you see a team fighting for every centimetre, every metre, fighting for every moment and that can be decisive in the game and that’s what we showed. I am hoping that in the near future we will play a difficult game like the Milan game or the United game and be more dominant than we were against Chelsea.”
Diogo Jota, Conor Bradley, Federico Chiesa, Alisson Becker and Harvey Elliott have not travelled with the Liverpool squad to Germany.
Despite a challenging start to their Champions League campaign, RB Leipzig have made a strong start to the Bundesliga season, winning five and drawing two of their first seven games in the league to sit joint-top with Bayern Munich. They come into tonight’s game off the back of a 2-0 win over Mainz on Saturday thanks to goals from Xavi Simons and Willi Orban. In their seven league matches so far, they have kept six clean sheets.
Team news to follow shortly.