**Team news**
Mac Allister and Luis Diaz were restored to Liverpool’s starting line-up in place of Dominik Szoboszlai and Gakpo as Slot made two changes from Sunday’s win at Southampton.
_Starting XI: Kelleher, Van Dijk, Konate, Diaz, Nunez (Gakpo, 68), Mac Allister, Salah, Jones (Szoboszlai, 82), Robertson, Gravenberch, Bradley (Gomez, 87)._
_Unused subs: Jaros, Davies, Endo, Elliott, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Morton._
**First half**
A first half high on quality though low on clear-cut chances for either team nearly began in ideal fashion for the Reds, but Raul Asencio avoided scoring an own goal by hacking the ball off the goalline after Darwin Nunez had forced Thibaut Courtois into a save.
Diaz scuffed an attempt to beat Courtois at his near post and then Real settled, with Luka Modric pulling the strings in midfield.
The visitors’ increased presence in the contest did not translate to opportunities to trouble Kelleher, however, and they were again indebted to Courtois as he advanced to smother Nunez’s effort at source.
As the game ebbed and flowed, the decibel level inside Anfield was cranked up considerably when Conor Bradley emphatically halted a Real counter-attack with a thumping tackle that dispossessed Mbappe.
Liverpool’s best spell of the half followed, with Nunez and Diaz each having headed attempts on goal, but it remained deadlocked at the break.