Liverpool-Basel Live: Marco Streller Leads Swiss To 1-0 Win Over Reds

Mario Balotelli and Steven Gerrard Final, 1-0 Basel: The game is over. Basel defeats Liverpool in this Champions League Group B game, and the hosts are celebrating wildly.

Liverpool missed a chance to stamp its authority on Group B. Basel impressively outplayed Liverpool for much of the contest and frustrated the Reds in other stages of the game. Basel’s St. Jakob-Park remains a house of horrors for English Premier League clubs.

Basel’s veteran striker Streller, 33, scored the deciding goal in the second half after a corner kick. It’s yet another goal Liverpool has conceded from a dead-ball situation. Liverpool had a few good chances to score but didn’t make the most of them. Both trends are growing increasingly worrisome.

Basel moves into second place in Group B (behind leader Real Madrid) after two games, although it is tied on points with Liverpool. The Reds return to action Saturday when they face West Brom in the Premier League.

Postgame verdict: Liverpool must go back to drawing board >>

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90th minute +2, 1-0 Basel: Zuffi replaces Hamoudi, who departs to a rousing ovation from the home fans.

90th minute, 1-0 Basel: There will be a minimum of three minutes of stoppage time in the second half.

88th minute, 1-0 Basel: Balotelli appeared to score but the Italian was adjudged to be offside. It’s cruel symmetry after Sterling’s disallowed goal in the third minute.

86th minute, 1-0 Basel: Vaclick saves Gerrard’s free kick.

81st minute, 1-0 Basel: Lambert replaces Markovic in Liverpool’s second substitution.

Calla replaces Embolo for Basel.

The changes come after Elneny and Serey Die failed to test Mignolet with their shots.

78th minute, 1-0 Basel: Elneny curls a shot wide.

76th minute, 1-0 Basel: Markovic’s first-time shot misses the target.

75th minute, 1-0 Basel: Sterling wastes another golden opportunity after Lallana and Balotelli combined to cut open Basel’s defense.

Lallana made the final pass to Sterling, but the teenager’s first touch let him down, and the advancing Vaclick collected it.

71st minute, 1-0 Basel: Balotelli is cautioned for a slight altercation with Xhaka.

70th minute, 1-0 Basel: Lallana replaces Coutinho, as Liverpool makes its first substitution.

69th minute, 1-0 Basel: Xhaka blocks Sterling’s shot after Coutinho created the chance with a well-placed through-ball into the Basel penalty area.

63rd minute, 1-0 Basel: Now Balotelli misses with another long-distance effort.

61st minute, 1-0 Basel: Gerrard heads Coutinho’s corner kick wide.

61st minute, 1-0 Basel: Balotelli tests Vaclick with a long-range free kick. The Basel goalkeeper stops it. The rebound falls to Markovic who shoots on goal only for Vaclick to deny him, too.

Liverpool has upped the tempo and started to turn the tide since Streller’s goal.

60th minute, 1-0 Basel: Suchy is cautioned for a mis-timed challenge on Markovic.

56th minute, 1-0 Basel: Coutinho and Markovic combine to create a good scoring chance for Liverpool, but Xhaka blocks the Serbian’s effort before it reaches the Basel goal.

54th minute, 1-0 Basel: Gerrard is cautioned for a foul on Hamoudi.

54th minute, 1-0 Basel: Markovic tries to tie it up with a bicycle kick, but Vaclick saves it.

52nd minute, 1-0 Basel: Streller taps it past Mignolet after a goal-mouth scramble, and the hosts lead Liverpool in the second half.

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Skrtel’s attempted header bounced off of Lovren’s back and rolled toward goal. Mignolet palmed it away, but the rebound fell to Streller who reacted well and shot it home.

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51st minute, 0-0: Hamoudi forces Mignolet to make a fine stop. The Egyptian collected a cross, shifted onto his right foot and shot low.

46th minute, 0-0: The second half is underway at St. Jakob-Park.

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Halftime, 0-0: That’s the end of the first half. It’s goal-less.

Before kickoff, Rodgers said Liverpool was nearing its desired performance “level.” The Reds regressed in the first half in Basel. The game is goal-less, but Basel outplayed Liverpool and had advantages in possession, territory and danger.

The Swiss champions’ pushed the game into Liverpool’s half, but their quality and composure on the ball prevented the Reds from winning it back and launching those lightning-quick counter-attacks. The Reds’ pressing game caused few Basel turnovers. They eventually defended deeper, but Basel stretched their back line on a few occasions.

Liverpool wasn’t much better going forward against Basel’s five-man defense. Basel contained Liverpool’s counter-attack and shackled Balotelli when the Reds were forced to build play patiently.

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While it’s goal-less at the break, Basel has the initiative on the field and thinks it’s winning in the stands as well.

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44th minute, 0-0: Lovren heads Coutinho’s free kick on goal. The Croatian’s header bounces in the goal-mouth, and Vaclick saves it.

42nd minute, 0-0: Sterling fires a shot on goal from 20 yards out, but it goes straight to Vaclick, who makes a comfortable save.

40th minute, 0-0: Liverpool has a decent spell of possession, which ends when Suchy heads Enrique’s cross out for a corner kick. Henderson was at the far post but never had the chance to shoot due to the Basel defender’s intervention.

35th minute, 0-0: Serey Die dribbles receives a pass inside Liverpool’s area, dribbles around Enrique and Lovren and shoots on goal. Mignolet was there to block the Basel midfielder’s effort, but it was a close call.

30th minute, 0-0: Streller shoots from the edge of Liverpool’s penalty area, but Mignolet saves it easily.

28th minute, 0-0: Basel works its way deep into Liverpool’s penalty area, but the threat ends when Hamoudi blasts a shot (or cross) wide.

26th minute, 0-0: There’s a slight delay in the game because of an issue with the crowd. It looks like someone threw something onto the field from the stands. The referee picked up the object, ran to the sidelines and handed it to another official.

23rd minute, 0-0: Elneny curls a shot on goal from just outside the Liverpool penalty area, but Mignolet saves it comfortably.

Basel still has control of the initiative after nearly 25 minutes. However, it could benefit Liverpool, as the Reds are dangerous on the counter-attack when they get the chance to make speedy transitions forward.

18th minute, 0-0: Basel is enjoying the better start to the game, as the host’s quality on the ball and passing tempo has unsettled Liverpool’s defense. It hasn’t translated into many clear-cut scoring chances, but the sense of danger remains.

13th minute, 0-0: Gerrard is dispossessed 35 yards from Liverpool’s goal. Basel nearly punishes the Reds, but Gerrard makes a recovery run and blocks Streller’s shot before it can reach Mignolet.

Ninth minute, 0-0: Gonzalez has entered the game in place of the injured Safaris, as Basel is forced to make an early substitution.

Ninth minute, 0-0: Sterling is cautioned for committing a professional foul on Hamoudi.

Seventh minute, 0-0: Safaris is down and clutching his leg. He probably won’t be able to continue because of his apparent injury. Gonzalez has hopped off the Basel bench.

Third minute, 0-0: It looked like Sterling had scored, but the goal was disallowed because the Liverpool forward was ruled to be offside.

The opportunity came after a good exchange between Balotelli and Manquillo.

Kickoff: The Liverpool-Basel Champions League game is underway at St. Jakob-Park.

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Pregame: Enrique starts ahead of Moreno at left back for Liverpool. Rodgers’ selection of Enrique in this consequential game suggests the Spanish fullback is at or nearing his best form, following two injury-interrupted seasons.

Coutinho also returns to the starting lineup. The Brazilian playmaker missed two games in September due to a groin injury. Coutinho played 30 minutes as a substitute against Everton on Saturday.

Markovic and Sterling are likely to start as wingers, while Balotelli plays centrally in a three-pronged attack.

2:15 p.m.: Here are the lineups:

Liverpool

Simon Mignolet (22), goalkeeper
Jose Enrique (3), left back
Dejan Lovren (6), center back
Martin Skrtel (37), center back
Javier Manquillo (19), right back
Steven Gerrard (8), midfielder
Jordan Henderson (14), midfielder
Philippe Coutinho (10), midfielder
Raheem Sterling (31), forward
Lazar Markovic (50), forward
Mario Balotelli (45), striker

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Substitutions

Brad Jones (1), goalkeeper
Kolo Toure (4), defender
Alberto Moreno (18), defender
Lucas Leiva (21), midfielder
Adam Lallana (20), midfielder
Rickie Lambert (9), striker
Fabio Borini (29), striker

Basel

Tomas Vaclick (1), goalkeeper
Behrang Safari (19), left back
Marek Suchy (17), center back
Fabian Schar (16), center back
Taulant Xhaka (34), right back
Fabian Frei (2), midfielder
Mohamed Elneny (33), midfielder
Geoffroy Serey Die (8), midfielder
Ahmed Hamoudi (24), forward
Breel Donald Embolo (36), forward
Marco Streller (9), striker

Substitutes

Germano Vailati (18), goalkeeper,
Luca Zuffi (7), midfielder
Shkelzen Gashi (11), midfielder
Matias Delgado (10), midfielder
Davide Calla (39), midfielder
Yoichiro Kakitani (14), forward
Derlis Gonzalez (25), forward

8 a.m. ET: Liverpool can take steps toward UEFA Champions League success Wednesday when it travels to Switzerland to face FC Basel 1893.

Liverpool can make it a perfect six points from two Champions League Group B games with a win in Basel. Victory also will ease a prevailing sense of disappointment following Saturday’s draw against local rival Everton in Premier League play.

Liverpool will welcome Lazar Markovic’s availability. The Serbian winger was suspended for the Reds’ first Champions League game — a 2-1 win over Ludogorets on Sept. 16. However, striker Daniel Sturridge and center back Mamadou Sakho both will miss out due to injury.

Basel is no stranger to this level of competition, having won the title in Switzerland’s Super League (first division) six of the last seven seasons and reached the Champions League group stage four of the last six. Basel also has posed a tough test for English teams in recent seasons. The Swiss giant is unbeaten in six group-stage games (home or away) against Premier League opposition and it beat Chelsea at home last season.

Liverpool looks to reverse its recent form and write a new chapter in Anglo-Swiss Champions League history at St. Jakob-Park on Wednesday.

Liverpool-Basel kicks off at 2:45 p.m. Join us right here for all the action from St. Jakob-Park.