Jurgen Klopp gave many youngsters the nod to start in Belgium but nobody impressed in a 2-1 defeat.

Liverpool’s lack of experience was on show as they were beaten 2-1 by Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League on Thursday. With the likes of Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Luke Chambers, Harvey Elliott and Ben Doak, the Reds fielded their youngest ever starting XI in a European match and their disjointed team struggled to overcome the feisty Belgian hosts.

The defence was caught too high up and all over the place when Mohammed Amoura was sent through on goal to have a good run at Caoimhin Kelleher, rounding the goalkeeper before firing in the open goal. Defender Jarell Quansah managed to level matters for the Reds when he controlled a cross from a corner and fired in with one of Liverpool’s only two shots in the game, but the back line was exposed again shortly afterwards when Cameron Puertas got through to lash in.

Despite the introduction of Ryan Gravenberch and Joe Gomez followed by Darwin Nunez in the second half, it was the home team that looked more capable of finding the net and even had one goal disallowed, as Jurgen Klopp’s defence drowned while the attack failed to get going.

Liverpool were already through as group winners, but Jurgen Klopp will be concerned by how badly some of his team’s most promising young players performed against the Belgian side.

GOAL rates Liverpool’s players from Lotto Park…

Goalkeeper & Defence

Caoimhin Kelleher (6/10):

Should have done much better for the goals but pulled off a couple of good saves in the second half.

Conor Bradley (4/10):

Beaten for pace one too many times as he pushed high up and reacted slowly as Saint-Gilloise attacked.

Jarell Quansah (6/10):

Positioning let him down many times, including for the first goal but did okay on one-on-one battles, particularly in the second half. His finish for the equaliser was excellent.

Ibrahima Konate (6/10):

His experience was vital at times as he mopped up for his younger fellow defenders but struggled at times with so much space left around him.

Luke Chambers (4/10):

Didn’t really offer anything on the left side

Midfield

Harvey Elliott (4/10):

Simply didn’t offer enough to help his team when they were under pressure and scrambling to take control of the game.

Wataru Endo (5/10):

Sensible on the ball but did not protect the back line well enough – let his man run ahead for the Belgians’ second goal and was off at half-time.

Curtis Jones (5/10):

Saw a lot of the ball but sometimes too slow to pick out a pass and couldn’t move the attacks forward.

Attack

Ben Doak (5/10):

Worked hard to get on the ball as space up front was limited but had no luck creating anything.

Cody Gakpo (4/10):

Just couldn’t really get on the ball often enough due to a lack of service from his team-mates. Didn’t even have a shot at goal.

Kaide Gordon (4/10):

Gave the ball away too much and struggled against a strong defence.

Subs & Manager

Ryan Gravenberch (4/10):

Played the entire second half but did nothing to help his side take control of the match apart from a shot from distance.

Joe Gomez (5/10):

Replaced Konate at half-time and made it easier for Liverpool to build up from the back.

Calum Scanlon (6/10):

Came on to help out at left-back and didn’t do a bad job.

Darwin Nunez (6/10):

His presence boosted Liverpool slightly as they searched for a second equaliser.

James McConnell (5/10):

On for the last 15 minutes but didn’t get a chance to impact the game.

Jurgen Klopp (4/10):

His team were poorly set up as he made significant changes to his starting XI given Liverpool had already qualified for the next round of the Europa League. But even bringing on more senior players did not change their fortunes drastically.