It wasn’t a good display from the Reds, who featured a number of young faces in a much-changed side. Here’s how we rated the players on a disappointing evening in Brussels.

Defence

Caoimhin Kelleher: 5 – Did well with one one-on-one stop which he saved with his legs, and made one or two routine stops later on, too. But including the chalked off third goal, will feel he could’ve done better with everything that beat him.

Conor Bradley: 5 – Struggled right from the start, with Union Saint-Gilloise getting in behind him several times early on. Had one or two Trent-esque switches of play but looked like a player who hasn’t started a competitive game for seven months. Lucky not to have been sent off late on.

Ibrahima Konate: 4 – It was a surprise to see Konate line up in Brussels, and the Frenchman was in third gear all night. Too slow to get across for the opening goal, and could have done better on the second, too. Taken off in a likely planned change at half-time.

Jarell Quansah: 7 Man of the Match – This wasn’t a perfect showing from Quansah but he was comfortably Liverpool’s best player. Showed his class and composure throughout and notched his first ever Reds goal with a superb touch and strike from a corner. Another ‘fantastic’ display.

Luke Chambers: 4 – A really difficult night for Chambers who never looked comfortable. Sloppy in possession, weak in the challenge and positionally lax, the 19-year-old won’t want to see this one back. It’s all learning, but when you’re given a chance like this, it needs to go better than that.

Midfield

Wataru Endo: 4 – Another well below-par performance from Endo who seemed to lose the ball every time he got it. Lost his man for the second-goal. Taken off at half-time.

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Curtis Jones: 4 – A dreadful display from the captain on the night who really needed to step up, and didn’t. Held on to the ball far too long in the build-up to the USG opener and it got no better for Curtis. Looks to have regressed from last season.

Harvey Elliott: 5 – Slightly better than his midfield colleagues, but it didn’t quite happen for Elliott. One overhit late ball for Darwin Nunez summed up an ineffectual night.

Attack

Kaide Gordon: 5 – It was always going to be more about minutes than anything for Gordon this evening, and there was really nothing of note to comment on. Worked hard but ultimately never got into the game.

Cody Gakpo: 4 – In a very young forward line Gakpo was tasked with being the senior head. Unfortunately, the Dutchman failed to stand up to be counted. Nothing stuck with him and he never looked like creating for those around him.

Ben Doak: 4 – Like Gordon on the other side, Doak was a diligent runner without getting much change. But the 19-year-old had a little more to work with than Kaide and didn’t do enough with it. Ran down too many blind alleys and struggled to link up with Chambers behind him.

Substitutes

Joe Gomez: 6 – Much more assured than Konate and at present looks a safer bet to start against Manchester United on Sunday.

Ryan Gravenberch: 6 – More positive than the midfield starters. One clever touch and shot was parried by the goalkeeper in Liverpool’s best moment of the second-half.

Callum Scanlon: 7 – Looks far more ready than Chambers, who he replaced. One or two well-timed tackles helped the Reds out and showed his confidence.

Darwin Nunez: 5 – It was strange to see Darwin on for this dead rubber and the 24-year-old did nothing to alter the flow of the game.

James McConnell: 6 – Came on and looked lively. Has a lovely balance about his game.