Neil Atkinson’s post-match review for The Anfield Wrap after LASK 3 Liverpool 6 in the 2026-2027 Champions League at the Oberösterreich Arena…
YOU can only beat what is in front of you. You can only score against what is in front of you. You can only get a hat-trick against what is in front of you.
You can concede against what is in front of you too.
There is a reasonable chance LASK will finish 36th in this group – somebody has to – and we innately know this and it is why nobody will get carried away, but games like these have always happened in European competition and they have been opportunities to start something, build something or learn something.
The most joyous moment of the evening is seeing Lewis Koumas hit the net for the third time and that time one standing.
The most long term promising is seeing Florian Wirtz assist Bradley Barcola on the way through to the latter’s three goal haul.
And the most weird is seeing Liverpool ship three. Maybe we learn why managers never sub centre-backs. Maybe we learn what it looks like when one side doesn’t stop trying when the grammar of the game says they should and the other loses a little concentration. Maybe it is just a lack of defensive quality and nous, sharpness and stamina.
The positives are clear. Liverpool may not have attacked as we would hope this season but they are capable of putting this side to the sword. Bradley Barcola exploits the space brilliantly with his pace and his movement and shows his finishing is there.
Trey Nyoni shows what he is about. Behind the ball, backing up play, passing forward with confidence and dictating tempo. He tired as it wore on and while he has grown, the shirt remains baggy on him but all that will come. His head is screwed on.
On the right-hand side Rio Ngumoha shows the value of continually committing your man, another man, Here Comes Your Man, Waiting For My Man, Man On The Moon. But what’s as important is the brain and passing range. There’s a maturity to him which on nights like tonight is reminiscent of seeing Raheem Sterling come through.
Ngumoha is still in that moment, that age range where the Sterling comparison is prior to the explosion Raheem had. In a ton of ways Sterling is amongst my favourite Liverpool players because of the brain, the balance, because of his ability to go both ways. Ngumoha is developing that before your eyes. It takes as long as it takes but it is all there.
Both fullbacks are integral to the tennis set scoreline. Four assists and a goal between the two of them. At the scene of crimes for the LASK breaks of serve. The positives are worth dwelling on because the quality of the moments is great. Frimpong’s header is glorious but the ball in is perfect. However the pass of the night is his to Koumas.
The kind version of events is that both really tire. It is worth pointing out a load of players who play 90 normally don’t in this. The manager has a big eye on Brentford. We will need to be at our best and sharpest. We know this.
Ultimately though I am delighted most by Koumas’s delight. Whatever happens from here he has scored for Liverpool in club football’s leading competition. What a thing for a boy from Bebington. I hope it gets bigger and better from here but all of that needs this first thing and simultaneously that in and of itself is pretty special.
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