Liverpool 2-1 Lille: Seventh win in a row tightens grip on Champions League top spot as Harvey Elliott wins it

Match report as goals from Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliott earned Liverpool a 2-1 win over 10-player Lille at Anfield; victory makes it seven wins from seven in the Champions League for Arne Slot's side

Adam Bate

Comment and Analysis @ghostgoal

Wednesday 22 January 2025 11:24, UK

Liverpool's 2-1 win over Lille at Anfield tightened their grip on top spot in the league phase of the Champions League with a seventh consecutive win.

Mohamed Salah's first-half goal put Arne Slot's side on top and though there was a surprise blip when Jonathan David equalised soon after Lille had been reduced to 10 following Aissa Mandi's red card, Harvey Elliott's deflected strike won the game.

Barcelona's dramatic 5-4 win away to Benfica means that Liverpool still need one more point to be certain of top spot but nobody can now overtake their tally of 21 points after seven consecutive wins. No mean feat given that Lille had been on a 21-game unbeaten run.

Player ratings

Liverpool: Alisson (6), Bradley (7), Quansah (7), Van Dijk (7), Tsimikas (7), Szoboszlai (7), Gravenberch (6), Jones (7), Salah (8), Nunez (6), Diaz (7).

Subs used: Mac Allister (6), Elliott (7), Endo (6), Chiesa (6), Alexander-Arnold (n/a).

Lille: Chevalier (6), Mandi (4), Diakite (6), Alexsandro (6), Gudmundsson (7), Cabella (6), Andre (6), Makau (6), Bakker (6), David (7), Haraldsson (6).

Subs used: Sahraoui (6), Meunier (6), Ismaily (6), Bouaddi (6).

Player of the match: Mohamed Salah.

Slot was able to rotate some stars, substituting Ryan Gravenberch at half-time and introducing Trent Alexander-Arnold late on, and can now go to PSV for the final game knowing that a draw will be enough for a team that remain Champions League favourites.

Liverpool are clear at the summit but, in a new Champions League format, Slot insisted it was more important to skip the playoff round than to finish top.

"We are happy we are top eight. That's the only thing that tells me something because this league table doesn't.

"Normally in tennis, if you're number one if you play the number 24, you know they are not as good as the number 16, but because we play different teams, maybe the number 24 is better than the number 16.

"We want to be on top of the league but we have to wait and see if that's an advantage.

Does it matter if Liverpool finish first?

Yes it does. The way the Champions League league phase works is the final league position gives you a specific route - and specific opponents - in the knockout-stage draw.

The below graphic shows the tournament tree for the rest of the competition. For the first time, the knockout rounds are decided by the league phase - with no separate draws for the last 16, quarter-finals and beyond.

For example, the teams who finish first or second in the league phase will face a team who finishes in 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th.

Compare that to the team who finishes in seventh or eighth, who could play a team who finishes in 23rd or 24th but also run the risk of facing the team in ninth or 10th spot - which could be a major European outfit.

The advantage for the team finishing first or second is they will guarantee playing a team in the 'middle' of the final Champions League table. Finishing lower down runs the risk of playing a better side.

But is it really an advantage to finish top?

Not necessarily. Particularly this season.

The struggles of Real Madrid, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain mean they are likely to end up in the 'middle' of the Champions League table - thereby coming up against one of the best-performing sides.

Paris Saint-Germain, in 26th, are in serious danger of not qualifying at all while 24th-placed Manchester City and 22nd-placed Real Madrid are clinging on to a play-off spot.

If they continue to not do as well as expected in the league phase, it could create some blockbuster last-16 ties, taking away the advantage of finishing in the highest possible spots.

Player of the match: Mohamed Salah

Liverpool manager Arne Slot said after Salah's milestone: "Special, that is the word to describe Mo's performance at this club. He has been outstanding at this club for so many years."

After becoming the first Liverpool player to score 50 goals in Europe, Salah told Amazon Prime:

"Hopefully I'm not the last one. I wasn't focused on the record before the game. It's something I'm very happy and proud of, especially because we won the game, that's the most important thing.

"Lille had a really good game plan, they were unbeaten for 21 games and were a tough team. They showed that in the first half and second half, so I will give them credit, but I'm glad we managed to win."

Salah on the similarities between this Liverpool team and the 2019 Champions League winners under Jurgen Klopp:

"It's different. Different manager, different players. We have four, five or six left from that squad, but we have good talent, players who work very hard, and a manager with good ideas. We are just going to give it a try and see."

Slot 'more impressed than crowd'

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot speaking to Amazon Prime:

"As a manager I'm a bit more impressed than I think the crowd, who might have thought it was only Lille. But I knew they were 21 games unbeaten. They beat Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid and, with all due respect, did so without the best players in the world.

"That tells you they are very well organised and difficult to play through. They are a hard-working team, so it was not easy. I was happy with the patience we had, not forcing difficult passes but keeping the ball and having complete dominance.

"The only thing I wasn't happy about was, for a few weeks now, it was one chance conceded, one goal conceded."