Salah milestone and Elliott makes a point – 5 talking points from Liverpool 2-1 Lille

Mohamed Salah reached another milestone and Liverpool set another record, with a statement from Harvey Elliott in a 2-1 win over Lille in the Champions League.

Liverpool 2-1 Lille

Champions League (7) | Anfield
January 21, 2025

Goals: Salah 34′, Elliott 67′; David 52′

---

1. 50 in Europe for Salah

Salah is already Liverpool’s top goalscorer in European football, but he added another landmark to his long list of achievements and records with the club.

His well-taken first-half strike against Lille was his 50th goal in Europe for Liverpool, putting him nine ahead of the next player on the list, Steven Gerrard.

Mo Salah's 50 goals in European competition for Liverpool is more than Ian Rush, Fernando Torres, Kenny Dalglish and Daniel Sturridge scored combined for #LFC.

— Michael Reid (@michael_reid11) January 21, 2025

Many read Curtis Jones‘ celebration, during which he pointed at the Egyptian as if telling him to stay put, as a sign that Salah has signed a new deal at the club, but it might just be a case of seeing what you want to see.

It was Jones’ pass that sent Salah through, and he joined his teammate in his trademark celebration by sitting alongside him on the advertising boards.

Salah once again makes his mark on the pitch, and fans will be hoping he makes his mark on a piece of paper with a contract printed on it soon.

 

2. Patience pays off

Liverpool’s first-half pass map was a thick solid line across the back four, and not much else, and just a few strands going forward, but not much.

There was plenty of patient buildup play waiting for Lille to take a risk defensively, lose their shape and give Liverpool space to attack.

This happened occasionally, but even when it did, the Reds’ attacking play was sloppy early on, making for a fairly uneventful opening half an hour.

Liverpool 2-1 Lille – Player Ratings

But as much as it is able to build up play from the back, this team is also ready to pounce quickly in the break if needed, and that’s what brought the opening goal as Jones played a ball into space for Salah.

There is lots of talk in football about the importance of rest defence, but this was a kind of rest attack, and Liverpool got the win without having to move through all the gears.

 

3. Another contribution from Elliott

Elliott played a big role in Liverpool’s late win against Brentford on Saturday.

He entered the game in the 80th minute and played a part in both goals by being involved in the move with Trent Alexander-Arnold for Darwin Nunez‘s first and getting the assist for the second.

He had much more time on the pitch in this Champions League game, replacing Dominik Szoboszlai at half-time and playing in that midfield role just behind the striker.

With the score at 1-1 in a game Liverpool didn’t need to win – but one they would have nevertheless been disappointed to lose – Elliott provided the winning goal once again.

His shot took a big deflection off Lille midfielder Ngal’Ayel Mukau, but it still went down as his goal.

On top of this, his work rate was good and he made some good interventions in defence too — more promising signs that he can play a big role this season when called upon.

 

4. Record-breaking defence

Jonathan David’s goal in the second half of this game was the first Liverpool have conceded in the Champions League since the third minute of their opener against AC Milan.

Despite not keeping a clean sheet on this occasion, a defensive record was still broken.

It was the most minutes a Liverpool team had gone in the Champions League without conceding.

Liverpool have now set a new club record of 573 minutes in Europe without conceding.

Via: https://t.co/nlm21rAJyt pic.twitter.com/e6twWsLBLm

— Andrew Beasley (@BassTunedToRed) January 21, 2025

It broke the previous record which was set by Rafa Benitez’s side in the 2005/06 season.

They could have become the first team since Leeds in the 1969/70 season to win six games in a row in a European Cup campaign without conceding, but that one will have to wait.

 

5. Comfortable CL cushion

It’s now seven out of seven in the Champions League and this dominant display in Europe will only help Liverpool in the league.

There was a cushion going into this game, and there is an even more comfortable one now.

This allows Slot to rotate as he sees fit and make subs as he sees fit. Jones and Ryan Gravenberch were brought off at half-time, and there were useful minutes for the likes of Elliott, Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley, Wataru Endo and Federico Chiesa.

This meant he could use this game to focus on another big Premier League game (they are all big, aren’t they?) against Ipswich at the weekend.

These games in Europe are now effectively competitive training sessions.