Liverpool vs Ajax LIVE: Champions League result and final score as late Joel Matip goal earns dramatic win
Liverpool 2-1 Ajax: Matip’s header gave the Reds a vital three points on a night that looked as if it would end in more frustration
Joel Matip scored a dramatic late winner for Liverpool as they beat Ajax to get off their mark in the Champions League at Anfield.
After Anfield fell silent as a mark of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Mohamed Salah lifted the mood to give the Reds a much-needed response following last week’s humiliation at Napoli.
But Ajax, who thrashed Rangers in their first match, hit back after Liverpool missed chances to double their lead and the impressive Mohammed Kudus thundered a shot in off the underside of the crossbar to equalise.
Trent Alexander-Arnold whistled a shot wide before having a chance after cutting onto his left foot, and Diogo Jota then went close after half time. Substitute Darwin Nunez wasted an opportunity, Salah clipped the crossbar but just as the night looked as if it would end in more frustration for Liverpool, Matip rose at the back post to force the ball over the line with a powerful header.
Follow all the reaction from Anfield:
Liverpool vs Ajax latest news
We already know about gameweek 1 in the Champions League. Domestic results this season for both sides:
Liverpool
Won vs Man City 3-1 (Community Shield)
Drew vs Fulham 2-2
Drew vs Palace 1-1
Lost vs Man United 2-1
Won vs Bournemouth 9-0
Won vs Newcastle 2-1
Drew vs Everton 0-0
Ajax
Lost vs PSV 5-3 (Super Cup)
Won vs Fortuna 3-2
Won vs Groningen 6-1
Won vs Sparta 1-0
Won vs Utrecht 2-0
Won vs Cambuur 4-0
Won vs Heerenveen 5-0
Chelsea vs Liverpool: Match postponed due to Queen’s funeral
Worth a reminder that this will be Liverpool’s only fixture in almost a month, between the Napoli game and their first one back after the international break.
The Premier League have postponed Sunday’s clash between Chelsea and Liverpool due to “events surrounding Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral”.
The match was scheduled to kick off at 4.30pm at Stamford Bridge in west London, less than 24 hours before the Queen’s funeral will get underway in the UK capital.
Both events require considerable resourcing by the Metropolitan Police and, following a meeting on Monday afternoon, the Premier League confirmed that the game has been cancelled.
It is the second football match taking place in London to be postponed in the space of a few hours, after Arsenal’s Europa League contest against Dutch side PSV Eindhoven - which was scheduled for Thursday evening - was also called off earlier on Monday for similar reasons.
Chelsea vs Liverpool: Match postponed due to ‘events surrounding Queen’s funeral’
The clash was scheduled to take place in London on Sunday, less than 24 hours before the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II
Liverpool vs Ajax latest news
After the defeat to Napoli, Jurgen Klopp spoke about the need to “reinvent” the Reds. Rich Jolly looks at how to do it:
“There are different forms of footballing heartbreak. For Liverpool, the sight of Wolves on Saturday had the game gone ahead would have been a reminder of the better kind. Thanks to the vagaries of the fixture list, the men from Molineux were the final-day visitors to Anfield twice in four seasons. Jurgen Klopp’s team won both games, and in vain. Manchester City trailed but prevailed in their respective matches and became champions on each occasion.
“With 97 points in 2018-19 and 92 last year, Liverpool fell short by one on each occasion. Now that 97 and 92 feel distant tallies; not because they only have nine, but because they have dropped as many and seem headed for far fewer than in three of the last four campaigns.
“Now they have an unwanted reminder that there is a different kind of despair. Even amid an unconvincing start to the season, even with the disappointment that accompanies a defeat at Old Trafford, there was nothing comparable with the trauma in Naples. That 4-1 evisceration has the potential to prove a one-off, but also to be the kind of symbolic indication that a dream and a team is fading.”
Liverpool need to ‘reinvent’ themselves – so how does Jurgen Klopp do it?
Klopp must pick his side up after the 4-1 evisceration against Napoli, which was the worst result of an already hugely disappointing start to the season
Liverpool vs Ajax latest news
There simply has to be a reaction from the Reds tonight, of course.
Thiago back into midfield was an absolute certainty as soon as he was fit, while it’s no surprise to see Joel Matip back in defence either. Tsimikas for Robertson was a given, as the Scot is injured.
But Diogo Jota being picked to start in attack is an interesting one - he’s basically bumped up the order here by virtue of not having played in some poor performances this season. Back from injury, can he get back to top form?
Liverpool vs Ajax latest news
As a reminder, last week Liverpool were hammered 4-1 by Napoli, which included the Italians scoring one penalty and having another saved. Luis Diaz was one of the few who impressed for the Reds, and he scored their consolation.
Ajax thumped Rangers 4-0 and the gulf in class was evident from very early on.
Mohammed Kudus was among the top performers - can he exploit the Reds’ fragile back line again tonight?
Liverpool vs Ajax confirmed lineups
No alterations for Ajax from the side which beat Rangers a week ago.
AJX XI: Pasveer, Rensch, Timber, Bassey, Blind, Alvarez, Taylor, Berghuis, Tadic, Kudus, Bergwijn
Liverpool vs Ajax confirmed lineups
Four changes for Liverpool tonight after the horror show of last week as Thiago, Matip, Jota and Tsimikas all come into the XI.
LFC XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Fabinho, Elliott, Thiago, Diaz, Salah, Jota
‘It was the worst game we played’: Liverpool plot a way back after their lowest low
Even when a deserted Villa Park featured a surreal scoreline, when Liverpool conceded seven goals in a game for the first time since 1963, Jurgen Klopp had moments where he saw glimpses of his team. He did in 2020’s 7-2 thrashing by Aston Villa, just as he had in 387 other matches as Liverpool manager.
Until they went to Naples last week. “In this particular game, nothing,” Klopp said. Everything – their defending, their pressing game, their cohesion and organisation – broke down completely. Liverpool lost 4-1 and, as Klopp said: “We could have conceded more, which is crazy.”
An impromptu break, caused by non-footballing factors, has given Liverpool more time to stage an inquest into their ineptitude. Klopp has played back the tape of the evisceration in Italy, time and again. It is his video nasty. “A real horror show,” he said. It has stood out for all the wrong reasons. “It was the worst game we played since I came here.”
There was no equivocation, no doubt about it. There have been a few spectacular setbacks in Klopp’s time, but each has been accompanied by mitigating factors or moments when Liverpool resembled themselves. Not this one. There were symbolic moments, beyond the goals and the goal-line clearance, the two penalties they conceded, the time Napoli opened them up with barely 40 seconds gone. “When James Milner arrives late for challenges, you know something is wrong,” Klopp said. The paragon of reliability proved unreliable. The mentality monsters caved in.
Liverpool plot a way back after their lowest low
Liverpool vs Ajax: Reds plot a way back after their lowest low
Total football to total overhaul but Ajax remain remarkably strong
If the supposed continuity club began by veering towards crisis, the side stripped of its manager and key players in defence, midfield and attack have flourished. Group A of the Champions League may have started by confounding received wisdom in football. Maybe, though, that is simply the Ajax way.
“They are in a massive rebuild but doing a really good job,” said Jurgen Klopp. His Liverpool, Champions League finalists three months ago, started off their continental campaign by getting thrashed 4-1 by Napoli. By contrast, Ajax kicked off with a 4-0 demolition of Rangers. They have 28 goals in their last seven games, five consecutive clean sheets and a winning run that is not simply a case of innate superiority in the Eredivisie. They arrive at Anfield on Tuesday night in almost illogically good shape.
If Ajax’s influence is found everywhere from Camp Nou to Old Trafford, they may be Europe’s most successful feeder club now. It represents a decline in status from the early 1970s, when they were the nonpareils but perhaps, having left an imprint on others, they can benefit from their vast diaspora and alumni network.
Rich Jolly breaks down another summer rebuild from Ajax:
Total football to total overhaul but Ajax remain remarkably strong
The Dutch champions lost their manager and a slew of key players over the summer but have emerged in almost illogically good shape
Jurgen Klopp expecting Liverpool reaction after ‘horror show’ in ‘worst game’ of his tenure
Jurgen Klopp said that the video of Liverpool’s 4-1 defeat to Napoli was a “real horror show” as he declared it was the worst performance in his seven-year reign at Anfield.
Klopp has watched the game back plenty of times and held meetings with his players as part of his inquest before he tries to get Liverpool back on track against Ajax on Tuesday night.
He concluded that eight of his team were poor in Italy and the other three were merely average as he said their defensive difficulties were at the root of their problems.
“I watched the game back plenty of times and it was a real horror show,” he said. “We showed the boys the situations. They knew but seeing it again made it really obvious.
“It was the worst game we played since I came here. In other games, [the 2020 7-2 defeat at] Villa away, there were always glimpses of us. In this particular game, nothing.
“Pretty much eight of the 11 were below their level and the other three were not top level, just their usual game. You saw all individual problems as a game. You have to follow a common idea again and everything we did since I was here is based on a really solid if not nearly perfect defending. That is where it all starts and that is what we have to work on. We all have to realise it starts with defending.”
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