Virgil van Dijk’s illness meant Jordan Henderson was picked alongside Joe Gomez at the back, James Milner had his 200th appearance for the club and Adam Lallana was trailed as a deep lying playmaker. Xherdan Shaqiri and Divock Origi completed the changes made by Jurgen Klopp.
With Monterray sitting deep, the onus was on Liverpool to find a way to get through the banks of four. The Reds enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening exchanges and Naby Keita opened the scoring with his third goal in three games after Mohamed Salah played him with a beautiful reverse ball. Keita read the play well, ran off the back of the defence and finished first time with his right foot.
This is what Liverpool bought Keita to do and the more he plays this season, the better he looks.
But the joy didn’t last long and two minutes later Rogelio Funes Mori, twin brother of former Everton man Ramiro Funes Mori, made the most of the Reds at a set piece. Alisson Becker made the initial save but could only palm the ball out to the forward, who gleefully accepted his early Christmas present.
Slow, again
All Liverpool could do was try to push again, and Salah was at the center of that as he tried to bring James Milner into it, twice, with lovely little flicks and tricks as Milner burst from right-back beyond the last line.
But it wasn’t just one way traffic as Dorlan Pabon stung the palm of Alisson with a howitzer of a shot from outside the area as Monterrey proved they won’t just be used for window dressing. The Colombian nearly had an assist, too, after Henderson played him onside but his ball across the face of the box was brilliantly tipped away from danger by Alisson.
In fact, Pabon saw far too much joy as Robertson found himself up the field and without reliable support to keep the forward in check. His relationship with Sadio Mane is almost telepathic and Liverpool lacked that with Shaqiri on the left.
Despite a late flourish that saw two more chances for Keita, Liverpool went into the break at 1-1, and despite starting brightly the Mexicans proved themselves more than able to match their attacking spirit as Pabon tested Alisson with an accurate free-kick and another rasping drive.
But now Liverpool were still slow, still ponderous. Trent Alexander-Arnold was sent on in place of Milner, who’s last action was to hit a low cross into the box that Origi scuffed into Manes chest and out of play from a good position.
Then finally there was some action. Mane hit a thunderbolt straight at the goalkeeper before spinning Salah though on goal but he was offside. And then just as you thought it would go to extra time and prolong the boredom, Roberto Firmino popped up with the winner.
Salah bamboozled his marker, Alexander-Arnold whipped in a pass into a dangerous area and Firmino opened his boot to guide it past the keeper. It was another late goal and another notch in the bedpost for the mentality monsters.