The game kicked off at 17:45 BST in front of 18,910. Liverpool came into it after a 3-0 home defeat by Manchester City on Sunday, Andoni Iraola's first in eight games as manager, according to beIN Sports. Iraola made four changes from that game, ESPN reported, with Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai out injured. Virgil van Dijk, Alexis Mac Allister and Víctor Muñoz started on the bench, and Kostas Tsimikas wore the armband in a competitive match for the first time, the club said.
Six goals for Liverpool, three for LASK
Liverpool lined up 4-2-3-1 and LASK 5-4-1. The visitors scored three times in 15 minutes before the break, and Lewis Koumas, making his first Champions League start, had two more goals ruled out for offside, per ESPN. Liverpool had 19 shots in the first half; according to Opta, cited by liverpoolfc.com, that is the most by an away team in the first half of a Champions League game on record. The goals in order:
- 22' LASK 0-1 Liverpool: Ronald Araújo, a header from the center of the box after a Kostas Tsimikas corner.
- 24' LASK 0-2 Liverpool: Bradley Barcola, a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the bottom left corner, set up by Lewis Koumas.
- 37' LASK 0-3 Liverpool: Barcola, a left-footed finish into the bottom right corner from a Florian Wirtz pass.
- 51' LASK 0-4 Liverpool: Jeremie Frimpong, a header into the bottom right corner from a Tsimikas cross.
- 63' LASK 1-4 Liverpool: Robert Ljubicic for LASK, a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner, set up by Yvan Dibango.
- 66' LASK 1-5 Liverpool: Barcola completed his hat-trick from very close range after a Frimpong pass.
- 72' LASK 1-6 Liverpool: Koumas, a right-footed shot from the center of the box after a Frimpong cross.
- 74' LASK 2-6 Liverpool: Florian Flecker for LASK, a header from very close range from a Dibango pass.
- 77' LASK 3-6 Liverpool: Flecker again, a right-footed volley into the bottom left corner from a Dibango cross.
Araújo's opener was his first goal for Liverpool, and Barcola's three were his first for the club, in his seventh appearance, beIN Sports noted. ESPN called it his first Champions League hat-trick, and the club counted it as the 13th hat-trick in Liverpool's European Cup history, the previous one being Luis Díaz's against Bayer Leverkusen in November 2024. Koumas set up the second goal and scored the sixth; per liverpoolfc.com, that made him only the second player aged 21 or younger to score and assist in a Champions League game for Liverpool, after Steven Gerrard at Dynamo Kyiv in October 2001. Tsimikas and Frimpong had two assists each. For LASK, Dibango set up all three goals, and Ljubicic's strike was their first of this league phase.
The double center-back change
LASK's goals followed a double change. In the 62nd minute, with Liverpool 4-0 ahead, Iraola replaced both starting center-backs, bringing on Van Dijk for Jérémy Jacquet and Joe Gomez for Araújo. LASK sent on Ljubicic for Melayro Bogarde at the same time, and he scored a minute later. Flecker, on at half-time for Kasper Jørgensen, then scored twice in three minutes. At his press conference Iraola said he had wanted to rest Araújo and Jacquet, with a league game against Brentford less than three days away, but admitted the timing was wrong for this match (liverpoolfc.com).
I think there is a reason why managers would never change both centre-backs together.
Andoni Iraola, Liverpool manager, via liverpoolfc.com
Liverpool's remaining changes came after their sixth goal: Muñoz replaced Barcola in the 73rd minute, and in the 85th Mac Allister came on for Trey Nyoni and Luke Chambers replaced Rio Ngumoha, a change ESPN's match data lists as injury-forced. LASK substitute Daniel Elfadli, on for Alessandro Schöpf in the 71st, was booked in the 80th minute, the only card of the game, in a match without a penalty. Iraola said Barcola should enjoy the hat-trick, adding that he had looked lively in training the day before.
LASK vs Liverpool: shots, crosses and clearances
| Stat | LASK Linz | Liverpool |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 35.8% | 64.2% |
| Shots | 12 | 26 |
| Shots on target | 4 | 9 |
| Corners | 3 | 11 |
| Fouls | 7 | 4 |
| Yellow cards | 1 | 0 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
| Offsides | 3 | 6 |
| Goalkeeper saves | 2 | 1 |
| Passes (completed) | 310 (251) | 576 (524) |
Liverpool had 26 shots to LASK's 12 and nine on target to four, and won 11 corners to three. LASK scored with three of their four shots on target; Alisson Becker made one save. Liverpool completed 91% of their passes to LASK's 81% and were caught offside six times. LASK made 30 clearances to Liverpool's 21 and sent in 17 crosses to Liverpool's 19, with three of them accurate to Liverpool's seven.
Liverpool fifth, LASK 33rd
Liverpool beat Atlético Madrid 2-1 at Anfield on matchday 1 and now have six points from two games, with eight goals scored and four conceded. After two of eight league-phase games they are fifth, one of nine clubs on six points. Paris Saint-Germain top the table, and Barcelona, Aston Villa and VfB Stuttgart are also above Liverpool on goal difference; Liverpool's +4 is level with Sporting CP and Arsenal, but they have scored more goals than both.
LASK lost 1-0 at AEK Athens on matchday 1 and have no points from two games, with three goals scored and seven conceded. They are 33rd, one of eight clubs without a point, ahead of 34th-placed Lille, who also have a goal difference of -4, on goals scored.
Villarreal at Anfield, Sporting CP for LASK
- Liverpool: at home to Villarreal, Tuesday 20 October 2026, 20:00 BST.
- LASK Linz: away at Sporting CP, Wednesday 21 October 2026, 20:00 BST.
Liverpool's next game is six days away and LASK's seven. Villarreal come to Anfield after beating Napoli 3-1 on Tuesday, covered in our Villarreal v Napoli report; Sporting CP are sixth with six points. Liverpool's league position is on our Premier League table, and the Premier League simulator lets you decide how the rest of the season ends.
Behind the numbers: ESPN's match data provides the goals, assists, cards, substitutions, lineups, team stats and both clubs' records, and we computed the league-phase table from ESPN full-time results after all 18 matchday 2 games, ranked by points, goal difference, goals scored and away goals scored. The narrative follows ESPN's report and beIN Sports, while the quote, the Opta figure and the club milestones are from liverpoolfc.com. LASK had published no post-match comments that we could find.