Against an underrated opponent, it is understandable that Liverpool did not play with the strongest squad. However, the attack line with Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, and Cody Gakpo is still too classy compared to LASK’s level.

 

These three players are the ones who scored goals for Liverpool. It took Luis Diaz only 12 minutes to open the scoring with an easy header from a favorable assist from Joe Gomez. Just 3 minutes later, Liverpool scored their second goal. Salah ran down the right wing and passed to Cody Gakpo to tap the ball into the empty net.

 

The overwhelming and one-sided game was maintained by the home team, making it almost impossible for LASK to counterattack. In the second half, when their physical strength decreased, it became easier for the away team’s players to let Liverpook exploit them. Mohamed Salah was the next to score, this time from the penalty spot in the 51st minute. Before that, Cody Gakpo was fouled by goalkeeper Tobias Lawal in the penalty area.

 

At minute 90+2, Gakpo completed a double for himself, and helped Liverpool win the final 4-0. In the remaining match of Group E, Toulouse and Union St Gilloise drew 0-0. On the rankings, Liverpool leads with 12 points and certainly has a ticket to the round of 16 even though there is still 1 round left. The reason is because second-place team Toulouse only has 8 points.

 

Third is Union St Gilloise with 5 points, while LASK is last with only 3 points. In the Europa League, only the top 8 teams have direct tickets to the round of 16. The second-place team must play an additional play-off round with one of the third-place teams of the Champions League to determine the remaining 8 teams participating in this round.