27-year-old must be sold: Three things we learned from Liverpool win v Hoffenheim

By Harry Sykes

After talk of a potential banana skin, Liverpool dispatched Hoffenheim with ease at Anfield, coming out 4-2 winners on the night and 6-3 on aggregate.

That result puts them in the draw on Thursday for the group stage, where the competition really begins.

Emre Can got two goals and left to a standing ovation in the 69th minute.

Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino got the others, but Liverpool conceded and could have let more than one goal in.

And that's where we start with the first of three things we learned from the game tonight.

1. Unstoppable in attack but...

Liverpool in full flow in attack under Klopp is one of the best things in the Premier League at the moment.

At times tonight Liverpool were breathtaking and unstoppable – the best defences in the world would have had trouble keeping them at bay.

Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah make the current worries about Philippe Coutinho... We exaggerate but you get the point.

However, they still look shaky in defence.

A clean sheet tonight would have been a real statement - both for their opponents in the Champions League and on the domestic front.

As it was, anyone watching tonight would be confident of scoring against them.

And when they face teams of the calibre of Barcelona and Real Madrid, where possession will be rare, that could cost them.

Alberto Moreno looks great going forward but isn't a defender and Dejan Lovren isn't good enough for Liverpool.

Klopp needs to sort it out... fast.

Click '2' below to see why this 27-year-old should be sold

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2. 27-year-old should be sold

Daniel Sturridge wasn't playing tonight and Liverpool looked wonderful.

It seems a bit cruel to kick a man who is so talented (if you can forgive him his perpetual injuries) but Liverpool always look better without him.

Sturridge started against Crystal Palace on Saturday and the team didn't look the same. He left the field when it was 0-0 and Liverpool ended up winning the game.

It was the same last season.

Whenever Sturridge started the team put in a stuttering and unbalanced performance.

You can bang on about strength in depth all you like but if a player doesn't fit in the team then you have to act.

And it's time for Sturridge to move on and find a team where he can be the focal point of the attack.

That will never be Liverpool.

Click '3' below to see why this young defender is part of the future of Liverpool

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3. Trent Alexander-Arnold is the real deal

Some players need to be wrapped up in cotton wool and protected into their 20s.

It happens more and more in the modern game.

Other players seem mature beyond their years and are capable of stepping onto the biggest of stages at a tender age.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is one of them and in him Liverpool have one of the standout players of the future.

It's easy to forget that he's just 18-years-old when he's playing for Liverpool in the Champions League. Or the Premier League.

Is he the complete package? Of course not, he's got a way to improve – and that's possibly the scariest thing about him as a player.

There's no doubt that when he hits the peak of his powers and strength, Liverpool will have one of the best players in the English game playing for them.

In other Liverpool news, Leeds have been installed as favourites to sign this Reds player.

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