Liverpool vs Rangers LIVE: Champions League result, final score and reaction

Liverpool host Rangers in a Champions League group stage clash at Anfield

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admits team lacks confidence

In the clash of the clubs from the banks of the Mersey and the Clyde, the real winner was Trent. The under pressure right-back, Trent Alexander-Arnold, set Liverpool on a path to victory they were expected to get. Perhaps he effected a swift transformation from scapegoat to top dog and certainly his celebration of a cathartic goal had an air of vindication.

Whether his brilliant free kick was an eloquent response to criticism or simply a demonstration of the gifts that make him a unique right-back, it brought him respite on an evening that ended not with another inquest, but a standing ovation.

For Liverpool, too, it was a restorative affair with Mohamed Salah adding a second with nonchalant ease. A continental campaign that began with the nadir of their worst performance under Jurgen Klopp now looks on course to conclude somewhere in the knockout stages. Napoli’s win over Ajax helps position Liverpool to qualify, if not win Group A, and they can plan for the return trip to Ibrox next week in greater need of points in the Premier League then the Champions League.

Relive the action from the Champions League as Liverpool defeated Rangers at Anfield:

Liverpool vs Rangers

• Liverpool XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Thiago Alcantara, Henderson, Salah, Jota, Diaz, Nunez
• Rangers XI: McGregor, Tavernier, King, Goldson, Davies, Barisic, Lundstram, Tillman, S. Davis, Kent, Morelos
• GOAL! 7’ - Alexander-Arnold curls a free-kick into the top corner for the Reds
• 34’ - Darwin Nunez denied by a big save by McGregor
• GOAL! 53’ - Salah clips home a penalty after Diaz is fouled in the box
• 85’ - Tsimikas clears off the line in rare Rangers attack
• MATCH REPORT: Salah helps Liverpool ease to Champions League win over Rangers

[4 October 2022 19:59 · Michael Jones]

Liverpool vs Rangers

Here come the teams!

Jurgen Klopp has changed up Liverpool’s formation electing to go with a 4-2-3-1 set up in the hopes that it makes the Reds more defensively solid.

Let’s see if it works out that way.

[4 October 2022 19:53 · Michael Jones]

Pre-match thoughts of Jurgen Klopp

The Liverpool manager spoke to BT Sport before kick saying: “We expect a really tough game. We’ve looked at Rangers’ line-up, probably a 5-4-1, so they’ll be compact, I don’t know how deep.

“We’ve made changes, we have to make changes, we’ve played so many games.”

[4 October 2022 19:50 · Michael Jones]

Liverpool vs Scottish sides

Liverpool have beaten Celtic (twice), Hibernian (twice), Aberdeen and Heart of Midlothian over two legs.

Their only defeat to a Scottish team over two legs came in the Uefa Cup quarter-final in 2003, when Celtic won 2-0 at Anfield after a 1-1 draw in Glasgow.

However, Liverpool have failed to win their latest three home games against Scottish sides - drawing with Celtic in 1997 and Hearts in 2012 either side of that 2003 defeat by Celtic.

[4 October 2022 19:45 · Michael Jones]

Liverpool vs Rangers

15 minutes to go until kick off. Which way will this one go tonight? Can Liverpool sweep aside their Scottish opponents or will Rangers pick up a first win of their Champions League campaign?

(Action Images via Reuters)

(REUTERS)

[4 October 2022 19:40 · Michael Jones]

Liverpool vs Rangers

Liverpool have a record of seven wins, four draws and three defeats against Scottish sides in Europe which is a mirror image of Rangers’ three wins, four draws and seven defeats against English teams.

In those games, Liverpool have scored 18 goals and conceded just nine. Rangers have scored 11 and conceded 20.

[4 October 2022 19:35 · Michael Jones]

Davies returns to Anfield

Ex-Liverpool man and now Rangers defender, Ben Davies, never broke into the first team after signing for the Premier League side but will play against his old club at Anfield tonight.

Hespoke to BT Sport before kick off saying: “The performance against Napoli in the last game was better than against Ajax.

“Tonight is another opportunity to show what we can do at this level.”

[4 October 2022 19:29 · Michael Jones]

Liverpool vs Rangers

[4 October 2022 19:23 · Michael Jones]

Virgil van Dijk: Consistency key to Liverpool recovery after fresh setback against Brighton

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk is confident his side can find their best form fast, and insists that consistency is the key.

A fourth draw in seven Premier League matches left manager Jurgen Klopp admitting confidence is as much of a problem as rhythm and momentum. Speaking after the 3-3 draw with Brighton, a match in which the Reds came back from 2-0 down to lead, Van Dijk used the word “consistency” in four of his answers to seven questions.

But it will take actions rather than words to turn around a trend that has seen Liverpool keep just two clean sheets in 10 matches, with the latest chaotic defensive display clinically exposed by a Seagulls side who had not played for a month and were playing their first match for a new manager.

[4 October 2022 19:17 · Michael Jones]

Lacking the clinical finish

Rangers are still looking for their first Champions League goal this season, having never previously failed to score in their opening three games.

Only Viktoria Plzen (two) and Sevilla (three) have had fewer shots on target than Rangers (four).

[4 October 2022 19:12 · Michael Jones]

Can Liverpool emulate Ajax?

Rangers' 0-4 defeat against Ajax on matchday one was their heaviest in a Champions League away game. They had one shot on target - eight fewer than their opponents, and only four touches in the opposition box.