Key events
Brotherly love was also on display at Anfield last night. Liverpool midfielder Alexis and Union defender Kevin got the chance to play against each other for the first time in Europe. Their father, Carlos, a former footballer with Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors, travelled to watch the the moment.
Liverpool’s 2-0 victory was dubbed a “modest” performance by Andy Hunter, and the routine win was probably just what they needed after the VAR mania that has occurred this past week.
Ryan Gravenberch and Diogo Jota got on the scoresheet for the Reds, and while their Belgian opponents did make it stressful at times, Jürgen Klopp simply said “job done” on his side’s win.
Klopp was also further asked about last weekend’s VAR drama. The German had earlier voiced that he thought the fixture should be replayed, but told reporters last night:
If I made the impression that I was still on (the Tottenham) game, we are not. We are over it. We are not children. That is it. From a focus point of view there was not a problem.
Have any opinions on VAR that you have not seen on the endless void that is the internet? What needs to be changed? Are the officials the people that should be sat behind the screens? Should we get rid of it all together? How sick of the letters V, A, and R are you? Send me an email and let me know.
Preamble
What a busy week of football we have had.
VAR has been the main star, with most of the coverage due to the mishap at Spurs last weekend that saw Liverpool have a perfectly legitimate goal chalked off. There also seemed to be issues during Nottingham Forest’s match against Brentford.
With all the Premier League manager press conferences today, it will surely continue to be a talking point.
Last night’s Europa League action saw Liverpool get the job against Union Saint-Gilloise. Brighton came from 2-0 down against Marseille to get their first ever point in Europe, while West Ham marked 17 matches unbeaten in Europe, the longest run by an English team, with a win against Freiburg.
And the managerless mess at Rangers continued with a 2-1 defeat to Aris Limassol in Cyprus.
The Champions League saw Newcastle thrash Paris Saint-Germain in their first Champions League match at St. James’ Park in two decades while Manchester City went back to winning ways with a 3-1 win away against RB Leipzig, a victory which ended their run of five consecutive draws in Europe away from home.
It was a one to forget for both Manchester United and Arsenal; The Red Devils were haunted by former player Wilfried Zaha in a 3-2 loss to Galatasaray and the Gunners wilted under pressure from Lens’ Elye Wahi and Adrien Thomasson.
Celtic prolonged their Champions League misery with a defeat against Lazio.
In the Conference League, John McGinn kickstarted Aston Villa’s campaign with 94th minute winner against Zrinjski Mostar.
We’ll take a closer look at all those games and look ahead to this weekend. Plus Saudi Arabia will be looking to host the 2034 World Cup and a few familiar faces have backed the bid.
