Although numerous young players were given the go-ahead to start in Belgium by Jurgen Klopp, nobody stood out in the 2-1 loss.

Liverpool’s inexperience was evident on Thursday in the Europa League when they lost 2-1 to Royale Union Saint-Gilloise. Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Luke Chambers, Harvey Elliott, Ben Doak, and other players were among the Reds’ youngest starting lineups in a European game, and their incoherent squad found it difficult to defeat the tough Belgian opponents.

Mohammed Amoura was passed through on goal to have a strong run at Caoimhin Kelleher, turning the goalkeeper before firing in the open goal, but the defending was caught too high up and disorganized. Liverpool’s only two shots of the game came from a corner, which was controlled by defender Jarell Quansah, who leveled the score for the Reds. However, moments later, Cameron Puertas broke through to lash in, exposing the defense once more.

Even with Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez coming on in the second half, along with Ryan Gravenberch, the home team appeared more capable of scoring and even had one goal disallowed as Jurgen Klopp’s defense floundered and the assault failed to gain momentum.

Liverpool were already through as group winners, but Jurgen Klopp will be concerned by how badly some of his team’s most promising young players performed against the Belgian side.

GOAL rates Liverpool’s players from Lotto Park…

Goalkeeper & Defence

Caoimhin Kelleher (6/10):

Should have done much better for the goals but pulled off a couple of good saves in the second half.

Conor Bradley (4/10):

Beaten for pace one too many times as he pushed high up and reacted slowly as Saint-Gilloise attacked.

Jarell Quansah (6/10):

Positioning let him down many times, including for the first goal but did okay on one-on-one battles, particularly in the second half. His finish for the equaliser was excellent.

Ibrahima Konate (6/10):

His experience was vital at times as he mopped up for his younger fellow defenders but struggled at times with so much space left around him.

Luke Chambers (4/10):

Didn’t really offer anything on the left side

Midfield

Harvey Elliott (4/10):

Simply didn’t offer enough to help his team when they were under pressure and scrambling to take control of the game.

Wataru Endo (5/10):

Sensible on the ball but did not protect the back line well enough – let his man run ahead for the Belgians’ second goal and was off at half-time.

Curtis Jones (5/10):

Saw a lot of the ball but sometimes too slow to pick out a pass and couldn’t move the attacks forward.

Attack

Ben Doak (5/10):

Worked hard to get on the ball as space up front was limited but had no luck creating anything.

Cody Gakpo (4/10):

Just couldn’t really get on the ball often enough due to a lack of service from his team-mates. Didn’t even have a shot at goal.

Kaide Gordon (4/10):

Gave the ball away too much and struggled against a strong defence.

Subs & Manager

Ryan Gravenberch (4/10):

Played the entire second half but did nothing to help his side take control of the match apart from a shot from distance.

Joe Gomez (5/10):

Replaced Konate at half-time and made it easier for Liverpool to build up from the back.

Calum Scanlon (6/10):

Came on to help out at left-back and didn’t do a bad job.

Darwin Nunez (6/10):

His presence boosted Liverpool slightly as they searched for a second equaliser.

James McConnell (5/10):

On for the last 15 minutes but didn’t get a chance to impact the game.

Jurgen Klopp (4/10):

His team were poorly set up as he made significant changes to his starting XI given Liverpool had already qualified for the next round of the Europa League. But even bringing on more senior players did not change their fortunes drastically.