Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1 Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp’s young guns struggle against Belgian league leaders in final Europa League group game but do academy proud as Jarell Quansah scores first goal for the Reds

While Manchester United's players were in recovery mode this week, facing another inquest after a toothless but nevertheless taxing European performance, most of Liverpool's big players rested their feet on Merseyside.

Jurgen Klopp was given the luxury of this Europa League trip to Brussels as a pointless dead rubber, having already qualified for the round of 16, and therefore left Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Alisson Becker at home.

Many other crucial figures, such as Dominik Szoboszlai, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz, spent most of the night on the substitutes' bench, dressed in a puffer jacket, hat and snood. It's just another argument to add to the list of why Liverpool are so keen to beat United on Sunday.

Liverpool ultimately lost the battle between the English and Belgian leaders, but it was still a proud evening for the academy. With an XI that had an average age of 22, Klopp delivered a night to remember for some of the kids on the Kirkby production line.

There was the heartwarming story of Kaide Gordon's first start in almost two years. He became Liverpool's youngest ever FA Cup goalscorer in January 2022 and made his Premier League debut the following week, but has since struggled with injuries linked to growing pains.

Jarell Quansah scored the equalizer for his first Liverpool goal – and the 2,000th of Jurgen Klopp's managerial career

Ben Doak showed his electric feet, while three others proved there's nothing wrong with going out on loan as trio Jarell Quansah (Bristol Rovers), Conor Bradley (Bolton) and Luke Chambers (Kilmarnock) are all cutting their teeth in the first team after successful stints away.

There were also minutes off the bench for fellow young prodigies James McConnell and Calum Scanlon. It was also a proud night for a more established Liverpool academy graduate, Curtis Jones, with the Scouse midfielder captaining his boyhood club.

But as often happens when teams make massive changes, Liverpool looked incredibly disjointed, struggling to find any intensity or creativity in attack and giving their Belgian opposition Union Saint-Gilloise too much space when they went forward.

Liverpool had 71 percent of the ball in the first half, but did little with the ball and managed only one shot on target. On the other hand, the leaders of the Belgian league continuously exploited the gaps behind the Reds' back line and took the lead after 31 minutes.

Caoimhin Kelleher had already made two big stops to deny first Gustaf Nilsson and then Mohammed Amoura, both as they scored on target. But the Irish goalkeeper was helpless as Amoura skipped past Liverpool's offside trap, steadied his nerves, rounded Kelleher and scored.

Klopp's side have made a slow start a common occurrence this season and, just like Saturday at Crystal Palace, Liverpool headed into halftime without registering a single shot on target. When they finally had a shot on goal, it came from an unlikely source: Jarell Quansah.

UEFA's official team sheet listed defender Quansah as playing in the number 10 role just behind striker Wataru Endo, a midfielder. Perhaps UEFA were on to something as Quansah made a nice strike as if he were a striker to level the match.

It came after Curtis Jones, the evening's captain, atoned for an earlier mistake that saw him lose possession for Union's goal. The 22-year-old netted a nice corner, Union failed to clear the lines and Quansah finished well.

Cameron Puertas quickly restored the Belgian team's lead a few minutes before halftime

Kaide Gordon made his first start in almost two years after a spell of injuries since becoming the club's youngest ever FA Cup scorer in January 2022.

It was a proud day for academy graduate Curtis Jones as he captained his boyhood club

After a 97th-minute equalizer in Toulouse for an earlier handball, it was a great moment for the Warrington-born defender, who has been at the club since he was five. But after a neat attack he was able to get back to work with his daily defense a few minutes later as Union took the lead again.

Ibrahima Konate failed Ben Doak with a pass, the Scot lost the ball and the home team took a drastic action. Konate was out of position and Cameron Puertas exploited the space, both behind Liverpool's defense and inside Kelleher's near post, with a powerful strike.

However, it was only after Ryan Gravenberch's silky touch and poor shot that Union keeper Anthony Moris made another save, while Liverpool were poor offensively. His counterpart Kelleher, meanwhile, was kept busy as the Cork-born keeper denied Nilsson and Amoura.

The crowd at Lotto Park, Anderlecht's home ground where Union is forced to play European matches, was furious in the 62nd minute when Puertas saw his second goal of the match disallowed after an alleged handball in the run-up by Lazare Amani.