Jonjo Shelvey scored twice as Liverpool beat Young Boys 5-3 in the Europa League

A largely youthful Liverpool side kicked off their Europa League campaign with a 5-3 victory over Young Boys following a topsy-turvy encounter in Switzerland.

Rodgers wanted to give his younger players a chance to prove they were good enough and while they may not have convinced him he will not have to make 11 changes for Sunday's visit of Manchester United - having left the likes of Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez at home - they at least displayed the character he was looking for. Despite concerns about the inexperience of the squad, having left eight senior players behind, the average age of the starting line-up was 24 - although that was pushed up slightly by 34-year-old Jamie Carragher. Their veteran centre-back was the only player on the field who played in Liverpool's last away win in European competition - excluding qualifiers - when the Reds beat Romanians Unirea in February 2010. The comedy started in the fourth minute when the Young Boys' defence got themselves in a tangle for no discernible reason. Downing's right-wing cross did not look to be threatening but Spycher headed the ball back across goal and it hit his central defensive partner Ojala before going in. That was only the beginning as Wisdom's inexperience at this level caught him out when he went to fetch the ball thinking he had a throw-in. While he was off the pitch a ballboy tossed another to Young Boys, who quickly restarted, leaving Wisdom - more accustomed to the reserve team where you fetch your own ball - running back on still carrying the ball he had chased. But if that error was down to inexperience, Enrique's decision to dribble away from the hands of Jones in the 38th minute was bad judgement as he passed straight to Nuzzolo - who drilled in a first-time shot before Jones had time to recover properly. Wisdom, however, came to his defensive colleague's rescue two minutes later when he produced a huge leap to head home Sahin's corner. The goal was Liverpool's 200th in this competition since they first took part in 1967-68. Wisdom was also the first Reds defender to score on his club debut since Gabriel Paletta in October 2006 - which is where the England Under 19 international will want the comparison to end. Just before the break Farnerud, who had earlier failed in trying to claim a penalty for Carragher's challenge, hit a low shot against Jones' right-hand post. The second half was less than 10 minutes old when Raul Bobadilla was given far too much room on the right to pick out the run of Ojala to head in at the far post. When Bobadilla outmuscled both Carragher and Suso, another debutant, to send Zarate down the right the Argentinian neatly dinked over Jones. Liverpool needed a quick response and it came within four minutes as Coates' looping header crept in at the far post with substitute Borini claiming a touch which was barely - if at all - there. Borini had a more decisive influence on the fourth goal as he picked out Jordan Henderson's run and the midfielder cut the ball back for Shelvey to fire home - and the same player added a similar second late on. Rodgers' maiden Europa League campaign is up and running in the most unlikely way - and the Northern Irishman will be pleased his selection gamble did not backfire on him.

BSC Young Boys	Team Statistics	Liverpool
3	Goals	5
1	1st Half Goals	2
6	Shots on Target	5
6	Shots off Target	5
1	Blocked Shots	2
4	Corners	6
11	Fouls	12
1	Offsides	3
3	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
83.5	Passing Success	89
17	Tackles	21
88.2	Tackles Success	85.7
43.9	Possession	56.1
53.4	Territorial Advantage	46.6
424	Total Passes	545
25	Total Crosses	15
141	Lost Balls	129
51	Recoveries	65
39.2	1st Half Poss.	60.8
48.8	2nd Half Poss.	51.2