Salah & Mané restart Liverpool's season in Leipzig win

With Liverpool on a run of three consecutive losses and Leipzig on a four-game win streak, Jurgen Klopp's side had a tough ask traveling to Budapest to face the German side tonight, needing to take a step towards quarter-final qualification, or risk their season spiraling out of control.

The Action: Clearly feeling a lift getting away from their recent Premier League troubles, Liverpool took the game to Leipzig in the first half, dominating possession, and constantly putting their German opponents on the back foot with fast diagonal balls over their fullbacks into Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

The Reds were millimetres from capitalising before the break when a constantly dangerous Mane had three attempts at getting a shot away in a decent area, before sending the third chance to Roberto Firmino to head home, however, replays showed the ball had already left the pitch.

Perhaps nervous of not making the most of their first half dominance, Liverpool came out in exactly the same manor for the second 45, but with far better results. An incredibly lapse pass from captain Marcel Sabitzer with less than 10 minutes gone saw Lukas Klostermann wrong-footed, allowing Salah to collected the ball and slam it expertly past former Red Peter Gulacsi for a 1-0 lead.

 And five minutes later, it was game over, and perhaps the tie, with Leipzig yet again producing another horrific error, seeing Nordi Mukiele piss a Curtis Jones launch allowing Mane to take the ball forward and guide it in for a 2-0 win. 

The Big Picture: This was exactly the kick start Liverpool's season needed, and the kind of performance wins against West Ham and Tottenham suggested could be on its way. New signing Ozan Kabak looked like a gigantic upgrade in defence, and Liverpool will hope to take this confidence into both the Premier League, and the second leg.

Memorable Moment: Salah's finish was such a strong example of why he leads any Premier League player in goalscoring stats since his arrival, the sharpness of his run, and power and placement behind a difficult finish was yet another big game moment for the Egyptian.

Expected Goals: Leipzig (1.25) 0-2 (1.60) Liverpool

Man of the Match: After an OK performance against Leicester which was destroyed by one huge mistake from his goalkeeper, Ozan Kabak showed he's certainly got enough to help Liverpool end this season on a high.

Quote of the Day: Jurgen Klopp: "It was the game we wanted, it was the game we needed. A lot of people were waiting for us to slip again. Tonight the boys didn't."

Stat of the Day: Only Robert Lewandowski (30) has scored more goals in all competitions this season than Mohamed Salah (24) of players from Europe's top five leagues.

Salah does it again for Liverpool! 🙌

24 goals for the season now 🔥🔥

The Reds needed that one! pic.twitter.com/399BON6cPa

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 16, 2021