Liverpool v Red Bull Salzburg: Champions League – live!

50 min “Speaking as a cowed and chastened Spurs fan, I am so jealous of this superb Liverpool team,” writes Jill O’Donnell. “If Jurgen decides to take his sabbatical, do you think he could be persuaded to coach my team by e-mail and text from his spa retreat?”

I’m not sure the consideration of Serge Aurier, Eric Dier et al would be entirely beneficial to the wellness experience.

49 min Adrian almost makes a Karius of himself. He received a backpass from Gomez, dummied to hoof it clear and tried a nonchalant return pass which hit the stretching Daka and went just wide.

47 min “Have to agree with you that this is the best Liverpool side I’ve seen in some 25 years of regularly watching them,” says Hubert O’Hearn. “But you know, while Klopp is one of the great managers, I never would have fired Brendan Rodgers. There was a falling off after 2014, sure, but you don’t lose Suarez and Sterling and not have a falling off. Saturday is going to be quite interesting – Brendan’s revenge game with a Leicester side firing on all cylinders. If James Maddison is healthy I think it ends in a draw and a loss would not shock me silly.”

Peep peep! That was as much fun as we hoped. There were some fine goals, with Andy Robertson’s the pick, and the scoreline is about right. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.

42 min Maybe it had become a bit too easy for Liverpool. The goal stemmed from a sloppy pass by Henderson (I think).

Salzburg deserve this, and it’s a fine goal too. Hwang surges through the inside-left channel into the penalty area, twists back inside van Dijk and lashes a shot into the far corner.

39 min Another half chance for Salzburg. The excellent Minamino pushes a pass into Daka in the D; he spins the ball past Gomez and smacks a shot over the bar.

Another one. Mane’s cross is flicked towards goal by the head of Firmino. Stankovic pushes it straight out to Salah, who does the necessary from eight yards. That wasn’t great goalkeeping.

34 min Salzburg work a short corner, from which Wober heads wide. He was offside anyway. Salzburg are still attacking with puppy-dog enthusiasm, despite the imminent pasting.

33 min Kristensen beats Alexander-Arnold, moonlighting at left-back, to win a corner.

31 min The lively Minamino forces a decent save from Adrian. Salzburg worked the ball well: Hwang found Szoboszlai, who slid a pass down the inside-left channel for Minamino. He held off Alexander-Arnold and screwed a left-footed shot towards the near post that was pushed behind by Adrian.

30 min Fabinho clips a lovely pass over the top to find Salah, who thrashes a half-volley wide from 14 yards. He probably should have scored. Fabinho has quietly become the most important player in Liverpool’s midfield.

28 min It’s not news, but Liverpool are a seriously good football team. This is comfortably their best side since 1987-88.

Robertson started the move with a surging run past Minamino and over the halfway line. He slipped the ball square to Henderson, who played a one-two with Salah and slid a first-time pass into space for Alexander-Arnold. He crossed first-time towards the near post where Robertson, who had kept running, opened his body to steer it past Stankovic from close range. It was a very accomplished finish as well. That’s sheer delightful football.

This is another beautiful goal, a celebration of one-touch football.

24 min Liverpool look very comfortable at the moment. Salzburg haven’t played poorly by any means but there is a difference in class.

20 min Alexander-Arnold’s cross is too close to Stankovic. It’s been a fairly dull game so far, that excellent goal notwithstanding.

18 min Szoboszlai plays a good ball to Hwang, who faffs just outside the area and loses the ball. It comes to Miramino, who is muscled off it with ease by Robertson. The crowd enjoyed it.

17 min Hwang gets the wrong side of Gomez, who pulls him back just outside the area. The referee gives nothing.

16 min It’s such a shame that Haaland is unwell and only on the bench. I suppose it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme – Salzburg probably budgeted to lose this game regardless – but it would have been nice to see him kick a football.

15 min “I’m lying in bed with multiple illnesses, too ill to try and see if the game is on free TV, so I’m hanging on your every MBM post!” says Sam Metta Bexar. “And then a spoonful of Mane appears to make the medicine go down. That man is on fi-yah.”

It’s an odd thing to say about a key man in arguably the best team in the world, but it feels like Mane is still a bit underrated.

13 min After a neat passing move from Salzburg, Minamino tries a pirouette on the edge of the box and is dispossessed by Robertson. That was an important piece of defending because he was the last man.

Sadio Mane scores against his old club. He picked the ball up on the left wing, 40 yards from goal, and immediately charged infield towards goal. He ran past Kristensen, played a slick one-two with Firmino on the edge of the box and slid the ball past Stankovic from close range. That was so decisive and so clean; Salzburg didn’t feel a thing. There was a VAR check for offside but he was just okay. And no, since you asked, he didn’t celebrate.

This is a fantastic goal.

7 min Liverpool are starting to pin Salzburg back. Alexander-Arnold curls a superb ball into the area towards Firmino, who is shaping to shoot when Onguene gets a slight but vital touch to divert the ball away.

4 min Salzburg have started with intent, as we thought they would. Their defence doesn’t exactly look watertight, but this should be an enjoyable, end-to-end game until Liverpool get their fouirth.

3 min Minamino picks up a loose ball 25 yards from goal, gets it out of his feet and whistles a low shot just wide of the near post. Adrian probably had it covered but it was a fine effort.

36 secs A promising early move from Liverpool. Henderson sweeps a pass across the field to Mane, who plays in the overlapping Robertson on the left of the area. He is motoring to such an extet, however, that he leaves the ball behind.

Chelsea are also in action tonight, with a tricky trip to Lille. Ben Fisher is watching that one.

Another email! “Back in the day when eggs were eggs Liverpool used to sign players on the basis of who they hated playing against,” says Ian Copestake. “Going for Mane seemed to herald a revival of that non-stat based approach to who to spend big on as he fair murdered us at home. Having watched Koulibaly be a rock of a defender against Liverpool I can’t help but imagine him alongside Virgil. But Lovren is obviously fine also.”

Where does the signing of Jimmy Carter fit into that philosophy?

An email! “As Liverpool are the reigning champions of England the whole nation is behind them, but from here in Norway I do hope we get to see what some of the fuss is about regarding The Beast,” says Duncan Edwards. “I doubt very much that he’s injured, just a sensible manager holding him back until Jordan Henderson has kicked someone else’s ankle first.”

Genk 0-0 Napoli The other game in this group has finished goalless, which is a decent result for Liverpool and Salzburg. (And Genk as well.)

In other news, the Sextuple is stil on

Liverpool’s home record borders on the obscene. The last time they lost a Premier or Champions League at Anfield was 23 April 2017, when Christian Benteke scored twice for Crystal Palace in a 2-1 win. They’ve never lost at home in Europe under Jurgen Klopp.

Jurgen Klopp picks his strongest possible side, with Joe Gomez replacing the injured Joel Matip. Erling Braut Haaland is only fit enough for a place on the Salzburg bench.

Liverpool (4-3-3) Adrian; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Substitutes: Kelleher, Lovren, Milner, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana, Origi.

Red Bull Salzburg (4-2-2-2) Stankovic; Kristensen, Onguene, Wober, Ulmer; Mwepu, Junuzovic; Minamino, Szoboszlai; Daka, Hwang.
Substitutes: Coronel, Ashimeru, Koita, Ramalho, Farkas, Haaland, Okugawa.

Referee Andreas Ekberg (Sweden).

Hello. Now, this match should be a lot of fun. It’s the European champions against Europe’s form team; the irresistible force vs the irresistible force. And while most of Salzburg’s good results have come in the relatively weak Austrian Bundesliga, it’s still eye-catching stuff. This season, in all competitions, they have played 12, won 11, drawn one and scored 55 (F-I-F-T-etc). That includes three huge wins away from home: 7-1, 6-0 and 5-1. Erling Haaland, the teenage son of former Leeds charmer, Alf-Inge, has belted 17 of those – including a hat-trick in a 6-2 win over Genk in their opening Champions League group game.

Haaland looks like the next big Red Bull Salzburg export. Liverpool know all about their ability to find future stars, as Sadio Mane and Naby Keita both spent two years at the club in their formative years. The Salzburg squad is full of promising youngsters from Africa, Asia, South America and Europe, and their starting line-up tonight should have an average age of around 22. Liverpool should be too big a step up in class, but the Salzburg players won’t die wondering.

They’ll take plenty of confidence from their recent results in Europe an’ all. In the last two years they have beaten, over one leg or two, Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, Marseille, Real Sociedad, Lazio, Celtic, Red Star Belgrade and RB Leipzig.

If they add Liverpool to the list tonight, we won’t be able to move for hipsters who have supported them since they were called SV Casino Salzburg, and that actually, mate, their first really big win in Europe was against Sporting Lisbon in 1993-94, when they overcame a 2-0 first-leg deficit and got Bobby Robson the sack. Call yourself a journalist?

Kick off is at 8pm.