The Paul Gorst verdict from the Orange Velodrome as Arne Slot and Liverpool respond to the disappointing Premier League draw with Burnley by beating Marseille 3-0 in the Champions League
MARSEILLE, FRANCE - JANUARY 21: Liverpool head coach Arne Slot of Liverpool celebrates the team's victory after the UEFA Champions League week 7 football match between Olympique Marseille and Liverpool at Stade Velodrome in Marseille, France, on January 21, 2026. (Photo by Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot celebrates after his side's 3-0 Champions League victory at Marseille (Image: Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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In many ways, Arne Slot is now confronted with the sort of scenario that he would have snatched hands off for at the beginning of Liverpool's Champions League quest: Beat Qarabag at Anfield and secure qualification to the last 16.
Much like their Premier League campaign, the Reds are now into the top four once more and victory against the unfancied Azerbaijan side in their final group game next week will seal qualification to the knockout stage without any need for a tough and unnecessary two-legged affair next month. That, however the rest of an at times arduous European adventure is analysed, must represent an achievement.
This deserved 3-0 victory over Marseille was brimming with chances and will go down as Liverpool’s most complete performance for some time. It might, in fact, represent the high watermark for this entire season to date, such has been their difficulty in rising above mediocre for much of this troubled term.
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It's been a curious time for the Reds in recent months, which has presented a succession of jarring juxtapositions that goes some way to explaining why there has been so much unrest and discord.
They are the current Premier League champions, who had only won half of their 32 games across all competitions before kick-off; they are now unbeaten in 13 games, but six of them have been draws; Mohamed Salahh is the leading scorer of the 21st century who, in his own words, has been "thrown under the bus" by the club. The contrasts, wherever you look, have been startling.
And it's easy to claim that the naysayers are confined only to the dark recesses of social media but frustration was audible in real life, on the terraces of Anfield on Saturday afternoon at full time of the 1-1 draw with Burnley. That, perhaps more than any other, has been the biggest sign of these unusual times.
The Liverpool boss was, somewhat bizarrely, facing questions over Xabi Alonso taking his job in Tuesday night's press conference but this was a performance from his team that made a mockery of the suggestion the Dutchman is nearing the end of the line on Merseyside.
While performances and results - the Reds are without a league win in 2026 - have undoubtedly been below par, this was not a display from a group of players no longer playing for their head coach as they defended as a unit to secure a second successive European victory on the road after last month's 1-0 win at Inter.
Liverpool thought they had the lead before the half-hour mark via Hugo Ekitike's 13th of the campaign but the France international striker had strayed offside just before the tireless Dominik Szoboszlai had supplied the low ball into the area.
Salah, on his first Reds start since November, ruffled the roof of the net with an inventive finish before spurning two bigger opportunities in the second period. He is a player still searching for momentum having been away from regular action for so long but the team have missed him, no question.
Having earlier been denied an assist, Szoboszlai stepped up for a free-kick at the end of the opening 45 minutes and fired it low under the wall, impudently giving the visitors the lead in the process.
Szoboszlai, who is in talks over a new Liverpool contract, is said to have designs on eventually becoming club captain and it was the sort of vital intervention that skippers at Anfield have long since prided themselves on.
Slot's men would not be denied their deserved second after the break, with the excellent Jeremie Frimpong's ball across the face eventually sneaking into the far corner.
Cody Gakpo, who was introduced alongside Curtis Jones late on, settled it with the final kick of the game as the Reds moved into the top four of the revamped Champions League table.
And for all the noise created all night by the fantastic fans of Marseille here, it was the Liverpool contingent who were given the stage for the encore as they demanded that Internazionale and Roma be brought on by the score.
It's a familiar refrain to mark big European results and this one felt sizable just for its potential impact now on the wider campaign.