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This wasn’t one that will live long in the memory, and by the time Fulham comes around on Saturday, you’ll have completely forgotten it. However, the 400-odd reds that headed out to Spain for this one will have no doubt enjoyed their trip. One that will likely be filed under professional and maybe controlled might come into the descriptions. A record was broken by a familiar scorer, and it’s yet another clean sheet in the Champions League. We look at the lessons learned from an away victory against Girona.
Photo by IMAGO
Brief Met
The ask of this one was pretty simple with everything that’s set to come in December: win and don’t get any injuries. Unless Slot has bad news to break in the next day or so, then it’s a case of all objectives met with this 1-0 away victory. Liverpool have full control over their Champions League destiny, having won 6/6 and essentially confirming their automatic passage to the knockout rounds with two games to go. It also means that come January, they can, if they want, choose to play a second string or, at minimum, heavily. Don’t underestimate how important this could prove to be later in the season. Job done.
Another Salah Record
In the words of Andy Robertson, “I think he has played better than he did tonight; most of us have, but when we needed him, he stepped up.” This wasn’t swashbuckling Salah at his best by any means, but again, the Egyptian king proved to be the match-winner for us. He becomes the first Liverpool player in history to score 50 Champions League goals and is now only one off Billy Liddell in the all-time charts (Liddell is fourth). He’s got 28 goal contributions in 22 games, and at this rate, you expect him to hit 20 goals before Christmas. Even on a quiet night, he’s the difference once again into the top ten scorers in Champions League history.
Alisson….Alisson…..
Kelleher has been brilliant whilst he’s been out, but it’s always good to get a reminder on occasions why the holy goalie is the best in the world. Arne Slot said we had him to thank for the clean sheet and, in a less than subtle dig, stated, “Maybe his teammates wanted to make sure he is fit to give him a lot of work.” The Brazilian made numerous great saves, including early on from Gil and then point-blank from Danjuma later on. Oh, how we and Liverpool have missed him, and let’s just hope that’s the end of any hamstring injuries.
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