The Reds produced an impressive away display.
Liverpool put the Mohamed Salah saga to one side as Dominik Szoboszlai’s contentious late penalty gave them a 1-0 win Champions League win at Inter Milan.
The Reds made the trip to San Siro with the build-up dominated by the absence of Salah, left at home by Arne Slot following comments he made in the wake of their 3-3 draw at Leeds United last Saturday.
Liverpool’s record Premier League goalscorer claimed he had been “thrown under the bus” after being left on the bench for three successive matches and suggested he no longer had a relationship with Slot.
Slot’s men never played like a side distracted in Milan, though, and appeared to have a deserved opener in the 32nd minute when Ibrahima Konate headed home, only for that effort to be controversially ruled out for handball against Hugo Ekitike following a VAR review.
Yet Liverpool were impressively resolute in a performance that was the antithesis of some of their recent defensive showings in the Premier League, though their winner came in fortuitous circumstances.
Referee Felix Zwayer was for the second time sent to the pitchside monitor after Alessandro Bastoni’s seemingly innocuous shirt pull on Florian Wirtz, and he pointed to the spot to allow Szoboszlai to seal the points with an emphatic penalty.
With 12 points from six league phase games, Liverpool can be confident they have done enough to seal a place in the knockout rounds, and are in a strong position to finish in the top eight and qualify automatically for the last 16.