Liverpool lost the match before meeting Man Utd

Liverpool only managed two shots in 90 minutes in Brussels, despite having 70% of the ball. Jurgen Klopp's young players failed to impress against opponents ranked 50th in the world by power rating.Opta, 46 places behind Liverpool. This defeat shows the difference in strength between the main and secondary squads of the English club, but it probably won't affect their performance much when they host Man Utd in the Premier League on Sunday, December 17.

Having secured the top spot with one game to spare, Liverpool used a squad full of substitutes, with the exception of centre-back Ibrahima Konate. Konate only played one half, before leaving the pitch to save his energy for the match against Man Utd. 22-year-old midfielder Curtis Jones was given the captain's armband, as he has the longest tenure with Liverpool in the first team.

However, it was Jones who lost possession leading to the visitors' first goal. After recovering the ball, 1.97m striker Gustaf Nilsson passed the ball to Mohamed Amoura who rushed down to face him, then dribbled past goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher before firing into the empty net to open the scoring.

Israeli referee Orel Grinfeeld awarded the goal, while VAR Ziv Adler checked to see if Amoura was offside. The offside line was not shown on the TV screen, and VAR did not intervene, meaning the home side were not denied the goal. However, it appeared that Amoura was offside, by a considerable margin.

Semi-automatic offside technology is only used in the Champions League, not the Europa League. So this goal will be controversial, even since Jones may have been fouled when he lost the ball.

Jones made amends seven minutes later, when he took a corner from the right into the box for defender Jarell Quansah to receive. With no player in position to rush in, the 20-year-old leaned forward and fired a powerful right-footed shot just wide of the post, leaving the home goalkeeper unable to reach the ball.

It took Union just four minutes to take the lead again, this time through visiting midfielder Harvey Elliott. Amoura picked up the ball on the right flank, before passing it into the side of the pitch for Cameron Puertas to charge into the penalty area. He confidently fired a low shot into the near corner, seemingly catching goalkeeper Kelleher off guard and unable to dive to save.

Despite the win, the Belgian club still had to say goodbye to the Europa League, to play in the Conference League because they only finished third. Liverpool will go straight to the Europa League round of 16, while second-placed Toulouse will play a play-off with a representative from the Champions League.