Liverpool guilty of resting on their laurels: Richard Buxton

Anfield's famous European nights are in danger of becoming a little too predictable.

For their past two Champions League home games, the Reds found themselves having to do the same thing - score a fourth goal to keep their European hopes afloat.

But, while the ending to the script was virtually the same as last season's improbable semi-final comeback against Barcelona, Liverpool's 4-3 win over Red Bull Salzburg yesterday morning (Singapore time) was different in at least one aspect.

It was quiet relief, rather than unadulterated elation, that became the overriding emotion at the final whistle.

Not for the first time this season, Juergen Klopp's side were guilty of resting on their laurels.

They surrendered a three-goal lead in exactly the same fashion they had relinquished a seven-point advantage at the English Premier League's summit during the previous campaign.

They succumbed to complacency.

Even the Anfield scoreboard sensed a Salzburg fightback when it prematurely chalked down Hwang Hee Chan's reducer at the end of the first half as three goals rather than just one - but the writing was already on the wall long before the South Korea international struck.

Klopp's attempt to explain it away as simply "a typical Liverpool game" does not ring true.

His Reds side found themselves taken to new levels of exposure by their visitors' relentlessness.

Virgil van Dijk appeared more likely to win the wooden spoon than lay claim to the Ballon d'Or, as he was routinely tied in knots by Hwang and Takumi Minamino.

Few in Liverpool's defence fared much better, with Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold also caught out.

RETURN OF MATIP

The expected return of Joel Matip for tomorrow's encounter with Leicester City cannot come quick enough, with Gomez failing to keep tabs on Erling Haaland for Salzburg's equaliser.

It is not the first time the centre-back has been caught out by a Nordic target man.

He was at fault when Teemu Pukki scored a consolation goal for Norwich City on the English Premier League's opening weekend, when Liverpool were coasting to a 4-0 win.

Alisson's comeback from injury after the next international break, similarly, will be a welcome one.

His deputy Adrian passed the ball directly to the feet of a lurking Patson Daka on the edge of his own penalty area in a move reminiscent of Bruce Grobbelaar's infamous twilight years.

Statistics further condemn Klopp's sunny disposition, with his players currently in deficit at both ends of the pitch.

They have conceded more shots per game, including on target, this season compared to the 2018/19 campaign and are falling similarly short with their own attempts at goal.

For better or worse, attempting to outscore opponents became a hallmark of Brendan Rodgers' Anfield tenure.

The irony that the Leicester manager's former employers have reverted to playing in that image ahead of tomorrow's reunion will not be lost on him.

Exactly four years ago today, Liverpool parted ways with Rodgers in order to change direction.

They need no justification for jettisoning the Northern Irishman; the European Cup's current residency is ample vindication of owners Fenway Sports Group's decision.

Klopp, however, has to prove that he can arrest the uncharacteristic slump in standards that took place at the beginning of the second half against Salzburg.

Failure to do so will see him fast-tracked into the same predicament that his opposite number once faced.

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