Basel vs. Liverpool: Score, Grades and Post-Match Reaction
Liverpool travelled to Basel on Wednesday with their Champions League hopes in some shade of doubt, and after a 1-0 defeat to their Swiss hosts, those hopes look all the more uncertain.
OptaFranz confirmed Basel's steady record against English clubs, which looks all the more positive following their midweek triumph:
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The night began brightly for Brendan Rodgers' men, who made their threat swiftly known to the home team as Raheem Sterling netted within minutes. However, the 19-year-old was left dismayed to see his run had been judged rightfully offside, and that stood to be one of the visitors' best chances all evening.
Liverpool would manage to stave off the enemy threat until half-time in what turned out to be the tetchy affair some may have expected given the Reds' record of just one win in their last five games.
That result came thanks to the late 2-1 win against Ludogorets in the side's previous Champions League outing, but there were no such signs of a revival this time around.
In the absence of Daniel Sturridge, Mario Balotelli has struggled to be the same leading presence for Rodgers of late, and Squawka showed the Italian had failed to get heavily involved early on:
Things didn't look up in the second half, and it took Marco Streller just seven minutes to net after the restart.
As the official Champions League Twitter account notes, Liverpool looked suspect at the corner, and their hosts made it count with the quicker set of reactions:
The game wore on and Liverpool would threaten their opponent, Balotelli at one point stinging the gloves of Tomas Vaclik with a long-range free-kick, but couldn't make any of those opportunities count.
Basel by no means rested on their laurels, either, and threatened to penetrate Simon Mignolet's goal once more. Andy Scott of Agence France-Presse did note the hosts' tiring, however:
But it would be enough as Paulo Sousa's side claimed an extremely valuable win that puts them right in the argument to qualify from Group A alongside title holders Real Madrid.
Liverpool's poor form continues, and Rodgers will now look to the home leg on December 9 as an opportunity to shift things back in their favour.
By that time, it could be pivotal that Sturridge will be expected to be back in their line-up, that addition alone likely to transform the club's attack, held at St. Jakob-Park on Wednesday.
Grades
Fabian Schar: A
For several seasons now, Fabian Schar has been an asset growing in confidence on the European stage, and the young defender continues to shine as one of Basel's brightest weapons.
Against Liverpool, the defender won a magnificent six tackles, all of his aerial duels and marshalled the home team's defence with relative comfort, never truly looking rattled by the weapons assaulting his borders.
Martin Skrtel: C-
It was Martin Skrtel's slight mistake at the corner which gave Basel the chance needed to convert in the 52nd minute, and that will unfortunately be the moment the Slovakian is most remembered for on this outing.
There were periods where Skrtel looked comfortable in possession, maintaining 93 percent accuracy in that regard, but it was in the defensive sense that his display was let down:
And that told the tale of his evening, a trip which would have many of the impression that Mamadou Sakho's place in the starting XI is more deserved.
Marco Streller: A-
He may well have had an even bigger impact on Wednesday night had he managed to tuck away several more of the chances afforded to him, but Streller will be content with his winner against the Reds.
The 33-year-old showed an energy beyond his years to last the whole 90 minutes on Wednesday, giving Skrtel and Dejan Lovren a mightily physical handful that relieved the pressure on his fellow attackers.
Post-Match Reaction
The defeat to Basel leaves Liverpool third in Group C, level on points with their Wednesday opponents and continuing the search for attacking fluidity with Sturridge not currently present among their ranks.
However, speaking in his post-match comments, Rodgers was adamant his side deserved to claim something in their Swiss setting, however admitting their set-piece defence needs work:
There is a ray of light for Reds fans, however, as James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo quoted the manager in saying Sturridge will not be a part of Roy Hodgson's England squad for the upcoming friendlies:
That would at least mean the striker will be given more time to recover from the hamstring injury currently keeping him at bay.
Moving forward, that recovery could be critical to the rest of the Merseysiders' campaign, but it's also a disappointing twist that the squad should become so reliant on one player in particular.
All statistics come courtesy of WhoScored.com.
