A youthful Liverpool side fell to a meek defeat against Union Saint-Gilloie to close the play in their Europa League group phase, but Jurgen Klopp will lose no sleep having previously topped the group and issued much rotation.

Having rested various key personnel ahead of three home clashes within seven days – Manchester United and Arsenal in the Premier League and West Ham United in the Carabao Cup – this was a prudent move that will likely pay off, with the players unscathed.

That said, Liverpool still lost and looked pretty drab in doing so, failing to muster any offensive cohesion and struggling to stop the home side’s waves of assault, with Cody Gakpo unable to produce the talismanic performance he might have hoped for.

Cody Gakpo’s performance vs USG

Now, it’s somewhat unfair to lament Gakpo harshly; after all, established he may be but the Dutchman received scant support from his midfield and wide-placed teammates.

Nonetheless, the 23-year-old was anonymous and didn’t find pockets of space from which he could build, influence play and create some sense of attacking fluency for his springtime peers.

As per Sofascore, the £120k-per-week dynamo unleashed just one blocked shot all evening, failed with his one attempted dribble, was dribbled past himself and lost the ball 12 times despite only taking 38 touches.

With the Premier League clash against United now looming, he hardly proved that he is the man to occupy the focal front spot ahead of Darwin Nunez, who is erratic but dynamic and determined.

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Even though Gakpo will be disappointed with his involvement, it’s difficult to place all the blame on his shoulders because, as previously mentioned, he was starved of service for the majority of the affair. The younger Reds simply didn’t click in this dead-rubber encounter.

Although Liverpool lost, that isn’t the main talking point at this moment; Klopp’s team is back at the top, and a challenging test in Belgium provided the ideal setting for several bright prospects to develop as professionals.

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