Toulouse vs Liverpool – LIVE!
Liverpool can seal their place in the Europa League knockout stages as they travel to take on Toulouse this evening. The Reds have three wins from three so far in Group E, and another one will confirm qualification with time to spare. Should they pick another victory and Union SG fail to beat LASK, top spot will be secured.
Jurgen Klopp’s side had to battle hard just to win a point against Luton over the weekend but they remain in strong form, with a controversial defeat to Tottenham the only time they have been beaten in any competition this season. A rotated side is named by Klopp, with Luis Diaz starting after it was confirmed his father has been released almost two weeks after he was kidnapped. Ben Doak gets a chance to impress, while Virgil van Dijk has not travelled due to illness.
Toulouse currently sit alongside LASK on four points and know any kind of positive result here would be a real bonus in their bid to make it out of the group. The French side sit 14th in Ligue 1, and were beaten 5-1 at Anfield a fortnight ago. Follow all the action with Standard Sport’s LIVE blog below!
Toulouse vs Liverpool latest news
GOAL! Dallinga doubles the advantage
NO GOAL! Dallinga finished ruled out for foul
GOAL! Donnum gives Toulouse shock lead
NO GOAL!
19:09 , Matt Verri
Liverpool look awful at the back.
Toulouse break, again they just cut the visitors up. Donnum pokes the ball beyond Kelleher and into the back of the net, but the offside flag is up.
Dallinga was off in the build-up.
Toulouse 2-0 Liverpool
19:07 , Matt Verri
64 mins: Some slightly more promising signs for Liverpool.
Salah holds the ball up, comes across to Mac Allister and his strike is deflected behind for a corner.
Alexander-Arnold whips it in deep, comes to nothing though. Not a great ball in at all.
Toulouse 2-0 Liverpool
19:04 , Matt Verri
61 mins: Restes charges off his line and punches the ball away – in the process he nails Diaz who looks in a fair bit of pain.
Story continues
He’s up and about though, fine to carry on.
GOAL! Toulouse 2-0 Liverpool | Thijs Dallinga 58′
19:01 , Matt Verri
This one counts!
It’s been coming too. Liverpool all over the place and now they’re 2-0 down.
Toulouse playing with so much confidence. Ball clipped into the middle, Dallinga takes one touch to bring it down and a second to smash it into the bottom corner off the inside of the post.
Toulouse 1-0 Liverpool
18:59 , Matt Verri
56 mins: Even Alexander-Arnold couldn’t make anything of it.
Floats the ball in, but it’s over everyone and straight out for a goal-kick. Liverpool a mile off it at the minute.
Toulouse 1-0 Liverpool
18:58 , Matt Verri
55 mins: Matip elbowed as he challenged in the air, now he’ll need some attention. Going to get a fair bit of added-time at this rate.
Szoboszlai with a driving run in the Toulouse half, shoved off the and wins the free-kick. Too far out for a shot, and fairly central.
Toulouse 1-0 Liverpool
18:55 , Matt Verri
53 mins: Salah collides with the goalkeeper, takes a blow to the head.
Looks a bit dazed as his gets some treatment, but he’s back up and fine to continue. Been a pretty miserable start to this half from Liverpool.
NO GOAL!
18:53 , Matt Verri
Dallinga has the ball in the back of the net, he’s celebrating with the fans… but the referee has ruled it out.
Matip threw himself to the ground, got a bit of a shove in the back.
Right decision to disallow that – referee took his time.
Toulouse 1-0 Liverpool
18:50 , Matt Verri
47 mins: Suazo wastes a huge chance for Toulouse… and the flag stays down!
Liverpool thought it was a clear offside, as Dallinga is played in behind. He slides in Suazo, clean through and he fires wide. Had to score.
Back underway!
18:47 , Matt Verri
Up and running for the second-half.
Klopp has made three changes – three big changes!
Doak, Endo and Tsimikas all off. Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Szoboszlai all on. Watch out.
How Toulouse took the lead
18:39 , Matt Verri
Moment to forget for Tsimikas…
HT: Toulouse 1-0 Liverpool
18:34 , Matt Verri
And that’s half-time.
It was all very easy for Liverpool who passed the ball around with no real urgency, and they were punished as soon as they made a mistake.
Tsimikas caught on the ball and the visitors took full advantage, as Donnum’s deflected strike broke the deadlock.
Liverpool need to improve significantly.
[object Object] (REUTERS)
Toulouse 1-0 Liverpool
18:32 , Matt Verri
45 mins: Just the one minute added on.
Doak continues to try and make an impression, this time the strong challenge is a good one. He’s probably been one of Liverpool’s better players, but it’s a low bar.
Toulouse 1-0 Liverpool
18:30 , Matt Verri
43 mins: Liverpool have pushed Toulouse right back, hosts have got about eight players in their own box.
The Reds just about resisting the urge to shoot from distance – might wish they had have now. Doak loses the ball and follows it up by making a needless foul.
Toulouse 1-0 Liverpool
18:27 , Matt Verri
40 mins: Endo needs to be very, very careful.
Already on a yellow card and he’s gone diving in again, so unnecessary. Late, Toulouse immediately around the referee.
Endo survives – he surely won’t if he makes another foul.
Toulouse 1-0 Liverpool
18:24 , Matt Verri
38 mins: Will Liverpool start injecting some pace into the match now?
It’s all been so slow, which will suit Toulouse just fine now they have the lead. Elliott cuts inside and tries to find the far corner, but his shot is headed out.
GOAL! Toulouse 1-0 Liverpool | Aron Donnum 36′
18:22 , Matt Verri
OUT OF NOTHING!
Well then. Tsimikas caught on the ball and all of a sudden Toulouse are away, Liverpool can’t get back in time.
Donnum drives into the box, shot takes a big deflection and flies past Kelleher.
Toulouse 0-0 Liverpool
18:21 , Matt Verri
34 mins: Endo into the book for a bit of a stamp on Dallinga.
Stretched to win the ball, the Toulouse man poked the ball away and took a painful one on the top of his foot. Yellow card for Endo.
Toulouse 0-0 Liverpool
18:18 , Matt Verri
31 mins: Nearly a complete disaster for Toulouse.
Ball loops up in their box, Restes should claim it comfortably but instead bundles into Diarra. Ball falls for Doak, smashes the strike at goal but it’s straight at Restes who can turn it behind for a corner.
That comes to nothing, Toulouse look to counter but Gomez gets back really well to halt that.
Toulouse 0-0 Liverpool
18:15 , Matt Verri
28 mins: More like it from Toulouse, who finally decide to try and get bodies forward.
They get in behind Tsimikas down the right, space is there to drive into. Cross whipped into the middle, Suazo can’t quite catch up with it.
Toulouse 0-0 Liverpool
18:12 , Matt Verri
25 mins: Sharp from Diaz.
Brings the ball down nicely under pressure and gets away a shot from 25 yards out. Catches it decently enough, but straight at the goalkeeper.
Toulouse 0-0 Liverpool
18:09 , Matt Verri
23 mins: Probably Liverpool’s best move of the match, some lovely touches in there as Gakpo flicks it round the corner for Mac Allister.
Diaz tries to find Tsimikas outside him, not enough on the pass. Winger makes up for it by sliding in and making a great challenge.
Toulouse 0-0 Liverpool
18:06 , Matt Verri
20 mins: Doak far too quick for Diarra, who makes four attempts to either trip him up or drag him to the ground.
After being beaten for a third time, Diarra does finally grab hold of Doak and halt his progress. Again, somehow it’s not a yellow card.
Toulouse 0-0 Liverpool
18:04 , Matt Verri
18 mins: More like it. Direct from Doak and Liverpool are on the attack.
Ball drops for Mac Allister in the box, he lashes a strike at goal that takes a deflection and flies over the bar.
From the resulting corner, Matip gets up well but he can’t keep the header down. Decent chance.
Toulouse 0-0 Liverpool
18:03 , Matt Verri
16 mins: It’s all very low-key at the minute.
Liverpool knocking the ball around, Toulouse sitting off and showing no real urgency to win it back.
Beyond that early Gomez header, Liverpool haven’t created much. Or anything.
Toulouse 0-0 Liverpool
17:58 , Matt Verri
12 mins: Schmidt earns himself the first yellow card of the night – not sure what he thought he was doing.
Mac Allister looks to take a quick throw-in, and from behind Schmidt decides to basically give him a bear hug. Referee unimpressed.
Desler might not be far away from a card either, he clatters Diaz after trying to foul him for about ten seconds.
Toulouse 0-0 Liverpool
17:55 , Matt Verri
9 mins: Toulouse players trying to whip the crowd up and it’s working, as they win their first corner of the match.
It’s a good delivery, but Matip is there to head it away well. Good spell for the hosts, starting to offer a threat.
Toulouse 0-0 Liverpool
17:53 , Matt Verri
6 mins: Endo with a very cynical pull back as Toulouse look to break, made sure Sierro was going nowhere.
Not sure how the Liverpool midfielder has avoided a yellow card, but he has!
Toulouse 0-0 Liverpool
17:50 , Matt Verri
4 mins: Off the bar!
Gakpo clips the free-kick to the near post, Gomez flicks the header on and it loops onto the bar. Toulouse scramble it clear but that is an ominous start.
Toulouse 0-0 Liverpool
17:49 , Matt Verri
3 mins: No surprise that it’s Liverpool dominating possession early on.
Gomez, who has the captain’s armband, is playing at right-back but he’s moving centrally into midfield as Alexander-Arnold does.
Diaz wins a foul out wide, up come the Liverpool defenders.
KICK-OFF!
17:46 , Matt Verri
We’re up and running!
Here we go!
17:42 , Matt Verri
Teams are out onto the pitch in Toulouse.
Home fans are right up for this, huge occasion for the Ligue 1 side. There’s 32,000 in attendance tonight.
Liverpool’s job to make them quiet as soon as possible.
Top spot crucial
17:38 , Matt Verri
Reminder that finishing top of your group in the Europa League is particularly important.
It means you get to skip a round effectively, with those who finish second in each group having to play a knockout round play-off.
Would take something fairly spectacular for Liverpool to not top this group…
Not long now!
17:31 , Matt Verri
Just under 15 minutes to go until kick-off in Toulouse.
Liverpool have been back close to their best this season – Tottenham the only team to beat them in any competition.
That was with Liverpool receiving two red cards and having THAT goal disallowed after THAT check by VAR.
(REUTERS)
Kelleher: We take Europa League seriously
17:26 , Matt Verri
Caoimhin Kelleher starts in goal for Liverpool tonight, and he is confident the club can go all the way in the Europa League this season.
He said: “We’ve got some good momentum [in the Europa League]. We had a big win the last time out and won our other two games as well, so we’re just looking to add to that and continue winning ways in the competition.
“It won’t be an easy game, especially away from home. I thought their fans were very good when they came to us so I’m expecting a good atmosphere there. I think it will be a tougher challenge than the last game.
“The main objective was always qualifying first from the group. So, I think if we can do that as early as we can, then we’ll be happy. We’re preparing for a win and we want to get the win.
“Our main aim is to win any competition we’re in. But we have to take that step by step, and we’ve taken this competition very seriously from the start.”
(Getty Images)
“Lucho is really happy”
17:18 , Matt Verri
Pre-match thoughts from the Liverpool boss, including a very positive update on Luis Diaz and his mindset.
Klopp ‘surprised’ by Quansah
17:11 , Matt Verri
When 20-year-old Jarell Quansah joined the Liverpool squad for pre-season training there was not a lot of consideration given to him playing much of a role in the current campaign and there were even discussions about sending him out on loan.
Klopp decided against that and after making his debut in the 10-man win at Newcastle in August, the academy graduate has made seven appearances, including a Premier League start at Wolves and back-to-back appearances in Europe, and he adds to that tonight.
Asked about Quansah’s prospects, Klopp said: “If you would have asked me pre-season (if) he would be that good I would have been surprised but since then I saw him every day and I am not surprised any more.
“It’s great to have a boy from our own academy with that potential and quality. We will see where he ends up but it is extremely promising. There was talk about him going on loan and we said ‘no’, that was obviously a very good decision.”
(Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Reaction to release of Diaz’s father
17:03 , Matt Verri
Liverpool have confirmed the release of Luis Diaz’s father, bringing an end to a traumatic two weeks for the player and his family.
The club tweeted: “We are delighted by the news of Luis Diaz’s father’s safe return and we thank all those involved in securing his release.”
Colombia’s football team meanwhile put out their own statement, as they called for the sport to bring “unity and joy”.
A statement read: “Football as a sporting discipline symbolizes talent, dedication, teamwork and the intrinsic values ââof human beings. In Colombia it must continue to be a benchmark for entertainment, healthy competition, unity and joy.
“Therefore, we insist on the need to maintain this activity, as well as those who are involved in it, in the sporting and administrative part and their families, outside of any scenario other than sports.”
(Action Images via Reuters)
Visitors have arrived
16:53 , Matt Verri
Liverpool are in the building!
Toulouse team news
16:48 , Matt Verri
Starting XI: Restes, Desler, Costa, Nicolaisen, Diarra, Suazo,Schmidt, Sierro, Casseres Jr, Donnum, Dallinga.
Subs: Cissoko, Gelabert, Kamanzi, Mawissa, Begraoui, Magri, Bangre,Keben, Dominguez, Lacombe.
Atmosphere building!
16:46 , Matt Verri
Home fans will make plenty of noise this evening…
Diaz starts
16:38 , Matt Verri
Luis Diaz comes into the starting lineup, with it announced in the last hour or so that his father has been released almost two weeks after he was kidnapped in Colombia.
It’s a rotated Liverpool side as expected, with Jarell Quansah starting at the back and Ben Doak getting his chance to impress too.
Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Trent Alexander-Arnold among those on the bench if required.
(PA)
Liverpool team news
16:31 , Matt Verri
Starting XI: Kelleher; Gomez, Matip, Quansah, Tsimikas; Endo, Elliott, Mac Allister; Doak, Gakpo, Diaz.
Subs: Alisson, Mrozek, Konate, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Salah, Jota, Chambers, Scanlon, Gordon, McConnell, Alexander-Arnold
Klopp: Proper atmosphere expected
16:21 , Matt Verri
Jurgen Klopp was full of praise for Liverpool’s Group E opponents in his pre-match conference, with the Liverpool boss expecting a tough test tonight.
“All three teams impressed me, to be honest,” Klopp said.
“Union, LASK and Toulouse are good football teams. Toulouse especially. They caused us problems until we understood a little bit more about how they played but you are right, the supporters were exceptional.
“I think they enjoyed their time at Anfield and rightly so. I am excited about [playing Toulouse]; I can imagine it will be a proper atmosphere.”
(AFP via Getty Images)
As it stands
16:11 , Matt Verri
It’s all looking very good for Liverpool.
They have nine points after three matches in Group E, leaving them five points clear at the top already. Both Toulouse and Union SG are on four, with LASK yet to get off the mark.
Victory here would seal Liverpool’s place in the knockout stages, and would be enough to confirm them as group winners if Union SG fail to win tonight.
(Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
FA contact police over tragedy chanting
16:03 , Matt Verri
The Football Association (FA) say they are seeking “observations” from Luton and more detail from police over reports of “tragedy chanting” that marred the game against Liverpool.
Offensive chants could be heard coming from sections of the home support during Sunday’s Premier League meeting at Kenilworth Road.
The FA have now strongly condemned the behaviour and pledged to continue to address the issue of tragedy chanting in English football, while reports suggest that Liverpool have also written to Luton seeking answers over how they plan to act.
The FA said in a statement on Monday: “We are aware of tragedy chanting during the fixture between Luton Town and Liverpool.
“We are seeking observations from Luton Town and further detail from the Police.
“We strongly condemn chanting of this nature and will continue to work closely with our stakeholders across the game, including the clubs, leagues, fan groups, and the relevant authorities to proactively address the issue.”
Jurgen Klopp commented: “Shame on everyone who said it.”
(AFP via Getty Images)
Last time out…
15:53 , Matt Verri
Liverpool blew Toulouse away at Anfield when these sides met a fortnight ago.
Five different goalscorers for the Reds too – Diogo Jota, Wataru Endo, Darwin Nunez, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah all on target.
More of the same tonight?
Stage is set!
15:44 , Matt Verri
Perfect evening for it in France…
Liverpool team news
15:35 , Matt Verri
Liverpool are poised to rotate their squad tonight.
Mohamed Salah is likely to be rested, along with Darwin Nunez, as Jurgen Klopp gives Cody Gakpo, Diaz and Ben Doak chances to impress in attack.
Harvey Elliott will expect to partner Wataru Endo and Dominik Szoboszlai in midfield – the two summer signings scoring in the 5-1 victory over Toulouse last month – while another youngster in Jarell Quansah will line up in defence alongside Joel Matip, with Virgil van Dijk ill.
Ryan Gravenberch is missing with a small knee injury, meanwhile. Thiago Alcantara is expected to be out until the New Year, while fellow midfielder Curtis Jones skipped the 1-1 draw at Luton with a “minor fitness issue” and will not return before the international break.
Liverpool predicted XI (4-3-3): Kelleher; Gomez, Matip, Quansah, Tsimikas; Elliott, Endo, Szoboszlai; Doak, Gakpo, Diaz
(Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Toulouse team news
15:27 , Matt Verri
Oliver Zanden and Denis Genreau are both missing for the hosts. Zakaria Aboukhlal will also be sidelined.
Thijs Dallinga was on the scoresheet at Anfield – he has three goals in his last four matches.
[object Object] (PA)
How to watch Toulouse vs Liverpool
15:22 , Matt Verri
TV channel: Tonight’s game will be broadcast live on TNT Sports 1 in the UK. Coverage starts at 5pm.
Live stream: Subscribers will also be able to watch on a live stream online via the Discovery+ app.
LIVE coverage: Follow all the action this evening right here with us!
Good afternoon!
15:16 , Matt Verri
Hello and welcome to Standard Sport’s LIVE coverage of Toulouse vs Liverpool!
The Reds are in France looking to seal their place in the Europa League knockout stages with two matches to spare, having made a perfect start to the competition.
We’ll have all the latest updates, build-up and team news ahead of kick-off, which comes at 5:45pm GMT from Stadium de Toulouse.
(Getty Images)
