Liverpool still have work to do to qualify for the Europa League knockout stages after the Reds’ perfect start to Group E came crashing to a halt following a dramatic 3-2 defeat by Toulouse.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were well below their best, but thought they had scored a 98th-minute equaliser when Jarell Quansah’s goal was controversially ruled out by VAR, following an earlier handball by Alexis Mac Allister.
The Reds thrashed their French opponents 5-1 at Anfield two weeks ago, but the side who are 14th in Ligue 1 flipped the script as Liverpool suffered just their second defeat in all competitions this season.
Before kick-off, Liverpool were boosted by the news that Luis Diaz’s father had been released by his kidnappers in Colombia, 13 days after he was seized by gunmen from the guerrilla group National Liberation Army.
Diaz was in the starting line-up and was bright as Liverpool made a positive start, but a mistake by Kostas Tsimikas allowed the hosts to take a 36th-minute lead when he was caught in possession and Aron Donnum fired a deflected shot past Caoimhin Kelleher.
Jurgen Klopp turned to his bench at half time and introduced Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai, but Liverpool’s task soon became harder when Thijs Dallinga doubled Toulouse’s lead with a thumping finish shortly before the hour.
The Reds were fortunate to pull one back when home defender Cristian Casseres bundled into his own net, but Toulouse immediately restored their two-goal advantage as Frank Magri slammed in a rebound after some poor Liverpool defending.
Diogo Jota pulled another back for the visitors late on before Liverpool were denied a late equaliser by VAR. Klopp’s side remain top of Group E on nine points, but Toulouse are now just a further two behind in the race to reach the last-16 as group winners.
Follow all the live action in the blog below and get all the latest match odds and tips.
