Team news

Liverpool made four changes for the game: Conor Bradley, Kostas Tsimikas and Jarell Quansah moved into defense.

Meanwhile, in attack, Diogo Jota returned to lead the Reds’ frontline in the capital for the first time since October.

Liverpool: Alisson, Van Dijk, Mac Allister (Konate, 80), Salah, Jones, Gakpo (Diaz, 60), Jota (Nunez, 60), Tsimikas, Gravenberch, Quansah (Endo, 30), Bradley (Alexander-Arnold, 60) .

Unused subs: Kelleher, Chiesa, Elliott, Robertson.

First half

It was the hosts who were the better of the two teams at the start, putting Liverpool under a lot of pressure and forcing several bad passes in the final third.

The early threat led to the first chance of the game when Alisson Becker reacted deep on the right to keep out an attempt from Radu Dragusin, while the defender turned a shot from Heung-Min Son towards goal in the penalty area.

There was a lengthy break at the end of the game as Rodrigo Bentancur was carried off the field and replaced by Brennan Johnson.

Moments later, Son threatened Liverpool’s defense again by going past Bradley on the left and firing a low ball into the five-yard penalty area, but teammate Dominic Solanke could only fire it wide.

At the other end, Liverpool returned fire and saw Mohamed Salah’s shot from distance fly past the post before they were forced into a substitution themselves, with Quansah taking a knock and Wataru Endo being brought on as a replacement.

Alexis Mac Allister then saw a close-range header deflected from a dead ball by Tsimikas and the ball found its way into the penalty area.

Before the break, Liverpool threatened again with a quick counterattack through Cody Gakpo, with the striker unleashing a powerful shot at goal that almost surprised goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky and scored the first in the 45th minute.