Napoli

Late goals from Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez helped Liverpool to a 2-0 win over Napoli but the Italians still finished top dogs in Champions League Group A.

As Klopp referenced, Liverpool were more of a cohesive unit, especially in midfield where Thiago and especially James Milner, before he departed with a head injury on 47 minutes, made it very difficult for Napoli to get their creative forces into dangerous positions. In a word, it's all about Liverpool being "compact". Is it due to a lack of investment? That's why I mentioned the second goal against Leeds as an example of a situation where you defend with all you have but we were chasing the game. Trying to articulate and intelligently dissect where it has all gone wrong for Liverpool this season has made many heads explode in recent weeks. His first goal in the Champions League for Liverpool - the first of many, Klopp will be hoping. The noise was lifted for a short period but with no real desperate urge to win the tie and Tottenham looming on Sunday, a winner for either team looked unlikely. They sensed their moment of making it 14 in a row and looked to have taken their chance from a set piece when Ostigard was left free to head home from six yards. Really good pieces of football and the defensive stuff was a high level. "If you have seen what Napoli can do it was a really good game for us. He said: "I would have enjoyed the game even without the goals but they are important stuff. Being compact makes all the difference.

LIVERPOOL, England: Late goals from Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez earned Liverpool a 2-0 victory over Napoli on Tuesday (Nov 1) but it was not enough to ...

"I think we kept the game very even, we created chances for ourselves, we suffered in moments. "It was the worst possible start to this group with the performance against Napoli. Advertisement

Late goals from Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez saw Liverpool conclude the Champions League group stage with a 2-0 victory over Napoli at Anfield on Tuesday ...

From a left-wing corner, Nunez powered in a header that Meret scrambled to push away from behind the goalline and Salah followed in to convert the loose ball and put Liverpool ahead. Curtis Jones, James Milner and Kostas Tsimikas also came into the side. Anfield roared on the home side in response to the decision, though Alisson soon had to scoop up a strike from Kvaratskhelia, seizing on a deep cross to the back post from Victor Osimhen. The Reds’ best sight of goal in the half arrived on 42 minutes as, from a turnover, Jones picked out the gap in the away defence to free Salah’s run off the flank. First, the visitors fashioned a shooting position for Tanguy Ndombele at the edge of the Reds area and his low drive was safely taken in by Alisson Becker. The two sides already assured of progression from Group A before kick-off were separated in the game’s final moments, as Salah forced in a rebound after Nunez’s header was pushed off the line and the latter nudged another home deep into stoppage time.

Salah prefers 4-3-3 and Liverpool were solid at the back, but Nunez was needed to break through... so, should Jurgen Klopp stick with his old system for crucial ...

Combined with the Champions League, they have scored 50 times already. A clean sheet against Napoli is not to be sniffed at. Afterwards, Klopp contrasted it with the shambolic performance seen in Naples, saying: 'Being compact makes all the difference. Curtis Jones was given the nod but, in the end, it was the introduction of Nunez 17 minutes from the end that added a little more chaos factor in the Napoli defence and led to the two late goals, the second of which he scored himself. All of a sudden, we have challenges in the right places, all of a sudden, we are difficult to play against.' We have seen experimentation with a 4-2-3-1, a 4-4-2, a 4-2-4 and a midfield diamond in recent weeks - with decidedly mixed outcomes - but it was the familiar 4-3-3 that did for Napoli at Anfield.

Can Liverpool beat Napoli by at least four goals to win Champions League Group A?

Wherever you are in the world, thanks for joining me (Roddy) for live coverage of Tuesday’s Champions League Group A clash between Liverpool and Napoli. The Champions League has been a welcome distraction for Liverpool from their frankly awful domestic form (more on that in a bit). Napoli are in pole position and, having tanked Liverpool 4-1 at the Maradona (still feels weird saying that), only need to avoid a hammering to top the group. Both teams are already through to the knockout stages but they’re gunning for top spot in the group. To be more precise, now that teams finishing on level points are separated by whoever has the better head-to-head record, Liverpool need to win by a four-goal margin or more to leapfrog tonight’s opponents. Luciano Spalletti’s men boast a perfect record in the group stages and have dished out a number of thrashings along the way. Napoli have been the revelation of the 2022-23 Champions League. Kvaratskhelia goes down the left and gets a nudge from Konaté. They were one of the favourites to challenge for the title but find themselves in ninth, 16 points behind leaders Arsenal, 15 behind Manchester City and only five above the relegation zone. Osimhen is a bit late to track him and fouls the Frenchman... Kvaratskhelia looks like he's going to be the main dangerman for the visitors. That was some delightful footwork there to work the ball through to Milner in the box.