Sunday saw Liverpool drop their first points of the Premier League season. The Reds were robbed of a win at Old Trafford by the incompetence of Martin Atkinson and cowardice of the VAR. Jürgen Klopp’s side looked disjointed at best for large portions of the game and didn’t fully get going until the last 10 minutes. Liverpool need an emphatic win over Genk in the Champions League or they could risk jeopardising their title challenge.
Liverpool need emphatic win against Genk midweek. (Photo by Vincent Van Doornick/Isosport/MB Media/Getty Images)
On Wednesday night, Liverpool take on Genk in the Champions League. The Belgian hosts suffered a convincing 6-2 loss in their opening game of the group stage when they visited Red Bull Salzburg. Teen sensation Erling Håland terrorised Genk as he slotted 3 goals in the first half.
Genk haven’t enjoyed the best of starts domestically this season. The Belgians are currently sixth in the league with four losses and a draw in their first 10 games. Despite their domestic form and heavy defeat against Red Bull Salzburg, the Belgian side managed a 0-0 draw with Napoli in their second group game.
The Reds need to secure qualification from the Champions League group stage as early as possible in order to focus on the Premier League. One way that Liverpool can do that is by taking goal difference out of the equation. Last season, when Napoli visited Anfield for the decisive game, qualification was still on the line and there were a lot of permutations as to how Jürgen Klopp could seal qualification. We can’t have this again this year.
If Liverpool win emphatically against Genk midweek they can boost their goal difference as well as morale going into a key Premier League clash at the weekend. Klopp will want the team in good spirits as Spurs visit Anfield on Sunday. We need to get out of this group as quickly as possible, battering Genk is the first step.