Youngsters earn Wolfsburg draw
Liverpool needed a late own goal to salvage a point as they were held to a 1-1 draw in a keenly-contested NextGen Series clash with Wolfsburg on Wednesday night.
The young Reds had looked like suffering a second defeat in just three matches in the competition when Hendrik Hansen converted a right-wing free-kick deep into first-half stoppage time.
However, an own goal from Marvin Kleihs four minutes from the end gave Rodolfo Borrell's side a fortuitous but deserved share of the spoils.
The result means Liverpool have taken four points from their first three matches and they will now be hoping to step it up a level in time for next week's return game in Germany.
The Spanish coach had gone into the Anfield clash warning his players to beware the wounded beast following Wolfsburg's disappointing start to life in Group 2.
The Reds had themselves recovered from a heavy defeat against Sporting Lisbon on Matchday One and it was no surprise to see Borrell stick with the same side that overwhelmed Molde last time out.
Indeed, Liverpool were clearly eager to put on a show in front of their home crowd and they almost stole ahead on 10 minutes. Suso picked up a loose ball 25 yards from goal and fizzed in a low shot that bounced inches past the far post.
It would prove to be the best chance of a patchy first 20 minutes and a lengthy injury to Nils Winter did little to help the flow of what was proving to be a very tight encounter.
Liverpool were lacking their usual cutting edge in the final third but almost changed the complexion of the game when Craig Roddan teased a ball out to the right for Toni Silva on 24 minutes. The Portuguese winger shimmied beyond his marker and clipped a delightful effort beyond Wolfsburg stopper Patrick Drewes, only to see Jonas Sonnenberg clear from underneath his own crossbar.