AMSTERDAM (AP) — Liverpool advanced to the knockout stage of the Champions League with three quick goals before and after halftime to beat Ajax 3-0 on Wednesday.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring with a neat finish in the 42nd minute, Darwin Núñez doubled the lead with a header four minutes into the second half and Harvey Elliott made it 3-0 with a powerful shot into the roof of the net in the 52nd as Liverpool awoke from a slow start to sweep aside Ajax at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
England’s resources at right back are being tested ahead of the World Cup.
Reece James was forced off with a right knee injury in the second half of Chelsea’s 2-0 win over AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Liverpool winger Luis Diaz will be out for up to two months and teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold could be missing for two weeks after manager Jurgen Klopp gave injury updates on two of his key players on Tuesday.
A look at what’s happening in the Champions League on Wednesday:
GROUP A
Napoli handed Ajax its worst-ever Champions League defeat last week with a 6-1 rout to remain perfect and will be confident of progressing when it hosts the Dutch club at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
LONDON (AP) — Liverpool winger Luis Díaz injured his left knee in the 3-2 loss to Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday and left Emirates Stadium on crutches and wearing a brace.
Díaz went down in pain after a challenge from Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey in the first half and the Colombia international was taken off in the 42nd minute.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Nobody was questioning Trent Alexander-Arnold’s attacking qualities, so it would be a stretch to say his perfectly executed free kick was a riposte to his critics.
Still, his seventh-minute strike that set Liverpool on course to a totally dominant 2-0 win Tuesday against Rangers in the Champions League felt significant.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Leandro Trossard completed his hat trick with an 83rd-minute equalizer to earn Brighton a 3-3 draw at Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday, marking an entertaining start to Roberto De Zerbi’s time in charge of the team from England’s south coast.
LEICESTER, England (AP) — Darwin Nunez shaded Erling Haaland in their first matchup by scoring Liverpool's final goal as they beat Manchester City 3-1 in the Community Shield on Saturday.
City, last season's English Premier League champion, and Liverpool, the FA and League Cup winner, paraded their big summer signings at King Power Stadium in Leicester but it was the Uruguay international who upstaged City’s Haaland.
NEWCASTLE, England (AP) — Liverpool kept its quadruple hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday to maintain pressure on Premier League title rival Manchester City.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — A place in the Champions League semifinals secured. The dream of an unprecedented quadruple of trophies still intact. Key players rested amid a hectic schedule.
Liverpool is in a good place entering the home straight of what could turn out to be the club’s greatest ever season.
A look at what’s happening in the Champions League on Tuesday:
BENFICA vs. LIVERPOOL
Liverpool will continue its quest for a quadruple of major trophies when it visits Benfica, considered one of the easiest teams in the draw for the last eight.
A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Saturday:
ENGLAND
The Premier League title race resumes with leader Manchester City and second-placed Liverpool in action. Liverpool hosts relegation-threatened Watford in the first of seven matches on the day.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold has recovered quickly from a hamstring injury and could play Saturday against Watford.
The England international's return is a big boost for Liverpool ahead of a Champions League quarterfinal match at Benfica on Tuesday and a Premier League showdown with Manchester City the following Sunday.
LONDON (AP) — Right backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James were among four players to withdraw from the England squad on Monday because of injuries ahead of friendly matches against Switzerland and the Ivory Coast.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to miss at least two weeks because of a hamstring injury, manager Jurgen Klopp said Friday.
The injury rules Alexander-Arnold out of the England squad for upcoming friendlies and raises doubts about his availability for Liverpool's visit to Manchester City on April 10.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool won its seventh straight game in the English Premier League by beating West Ham 1-0 to move within three points of leader Manchester City on Saturday.
Sadio Mane swept in the only goal at Anfield in the 27th minute, converting from close range after a shot was driven across the face of goal by Trent Alexander-Arnold.
MILAN (AP) — When a breakthrough is proving elusive, Liverpool can still prosper from a set piece.
After 75 minutes of caution — even tedium — in the Champions League at Inter Milan, Andy Robertson swung in a corner that was met at the near post by Roberto Firmino glancing in a header, with his back to goal.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Trent Alexander-Arnold's powerful long-range effort capped Liverpool's comeback Thursday in a 3-1 win over Newcastle in the Premier League that kept Jurgen Klopp's team in touch with first-place Manchester City.
If the Premier League is to take an enforced break amid another surge in coronavirus cases, Trent Alexander-Arnold gave it quite a send-off.
The Liverpool full back has the perhaps the most dangerous right foot in English soccer and he used it to devastating effect with a late long-range strike to seal a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Newcastle on Thursday.
Gareth Southgate once said he’d love to pick six right backs in his England squads, such are the national team’s riches in that position.
A glance at the attacking statistics in this season’s Premier League shows just why.
LONDON (AP) — Goalkeeper Alisson Becker helped West Ham score three goals, and Liverpool's 25-game unbeaten run ended.
A 3-2 victory Sunday allowed West Ham to dislodge Liverpool from third place in the Premier League, extending an impressive start to the season for David Moyes' side.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool eased into the Champions League knockout rounds Wednesday after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s assists cut through the Atlético Madrid defense in a 2-0 win at Anfield.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Sadio Mane scored for the ninth straight time against Crystal Palace and reached 100 goals for Liverpool to set his team on its way to a 3-0 win in the English Premier League on Saturday.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Jordan Henderson capped Liverpool's second-half comeback with a brilliantly controlled finish to clinch a 3-2 win over AC Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The Liverpool captain met a clearance to the edge of the area with a half-volley that flew into the bottom corner in the 69th minute in another classic European game at Anfield.
LEEDS, England (AP) — Mohamed Salah scored his 100th Premier League goal to set Liverpool on its way to a 3-0 win over Leeds that was marred by a serious ankle injury to Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott on Sunday.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool marked its first game in front of a capacity crowd at Anfield in nearly 18 months by beating Burnley 2-0 on Saturday, with goals by Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane earning their team a second straight win to open the season.
LONDON (AP) — England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold was ruled out of the European Championship on Thursday with a left thigh injury sustained during a warmup match.
The Liverpool right back hobbled off just before the end of a 1-0 win over Austria on Wednesday.
The international returns of France striker Karim Benzema, England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold and Germany players Mats Hummels and Thomas Müller didn’t go according to plan on Wednesday.
Benzema, back in France’s team after a 5½-year absence, had a penalty saved and also hit the post in a 3-0 win over Wales in a warmup match ahead of the European Championship.
MIDDLESBROUGH, England (AP) — Trent Alexander-Arnold gave England an injury scare barely a week before the European Championship by hobbling off with a suspected left thigh injury in a warmup match on Wednesday.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was one of four specialist right backs selected in England's final 26-man squad for the European Championship on Tuesday, while Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson were included despite ongoing fitness concerns which make them doubtful for group-stage matches.
LONDON (AP) — Naming a 33-man provisional list, Gareth Southgate gave himself another week to deliberate on England's final European Championship squad.
To keep the three newcomers or not? How fatigued will the 12 players competing in this week's European club finals be?
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson made the 80-meter journey into West Bromwich Albion's penalty area, more in hope than any expectation of scoring the stoppage-time goal that would keep alive his team's chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
WEST BROMWICH, England (AP) — Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker scored a dramatic goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time to earn a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Sunday and keep alive his team's realistic chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
One stoppage-time goal slowed Manchester City's march to the Premier League title.
Another ignited Liverpool's push for the Champions League qualification positions...
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Trent Alexander-Arnold's stoppage-time goal earned Liverpool a 2-1 win over Aston Villa as the soon-to-be-deposed champions ended their six-match losing run at Anfield in the Premier League on Saturday...