AnalysisTalking points: Job done, Salah chases Stevie, déjà vu and more

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The Reds will compete in the last 16 of the competition for the sixth consecutive campaign, having chalked up a fourth successive win in Group A on Wednesday night.

Mohamed Salah’s opener was followed by a Darwin Nunez header and emphatic Harvey Elliott finish early in the second half to ensure Jürgen Klopp’s side’s progression.

Here are five talking points from Amsterdam…

Job done

Liverpool journeyed to the Netherlands knowing a point would be sufficient to join Napoli in qualifying from the section, with a game to spare.

Klopp’s men, understandably, had to weather early pressure from the Eredivisie leaders, who struck the post with fewer than three minutes on the clock and later saw a promising Dusan Tadic chance blocked by Trent Alexander-Arnold.

But the visitors moved through the gears decisively either side of the interval to put paid to Ajax’s hopes, with Salah breaking the deadlock before half-time.

Nunez and Elliott then netted in quickfire fashion to give the Reds the kind of cushion they would have been dreaming of before kick-off.

Napoli’s defeat of Rangers elsewhere on the evening means they remain in control of top spot. Liverpool would have to beat the Italian outfit by a wide margin on matchday six to leapfrog them into seeded status.

Salah closes on Stevie

The contest’s breakthrough was a show of sublime quality from the Reds.

Jordan Henderson threaded a beautiful, outside-of-the-boot pass from the wing in behind for Salah’s run and the No.11 lifted the ball over the Ajax goalkeeper and into the net in assured style.

It was a strike that set Liverpool on their way to an important result but also moved the Egyptian closer to yet another piece of history on a personal level.

Salah (40) is now just one goal behind Steven Gerrard (41) on the club’s list of highest scorers in European competition of all time – a ranking you would expect to be reversed in the near future.

Darwin déjà vu

A pinpoint delivery from the left flank by the full-back for Nunez to power a header inside the opposition’s right-hand post.

Sound familiar?

The summer signing’s effort at Johan Cruijff Arena certainly had more than a passing resemblance to his previous strike – against West Ham United a week ago – as he made rapid amends for hitting the woodwork before the break at Ajax.

Nunez has now scored on each of his last four starts for the Reds and will be eager to continue that form when Leeds United visit Anfield in the Premier League this Saturday.

Andy the architect

Andy Robertson’s assist for Nunez may have come from a corner, but it was symbolic of a typically all-round contribution from the Scotland captain.

He created a team-high five chances over the course of the night in Amsterdam, with his 18 passes in the final third well out in front for Liverpool too, and delivered seven crosses.

Nobody on Klopp’s team had more touches (87) than Robertson, while his figure for winning possession (eight times) was bettered only by Joe Gomez (10).

A fine performance to mark what was the left-back’s 50th European appearance for the club.

200 for our No.1

Also celebrating a milestone on the night was Alisson Becker, who defended the Reds goal for the 200th occasion since his arrival back in 2018.

It’s fair to assume the Brazilian will have been significantly more interested in another statistic, of course: keeping a clean sheet.

And with a little helping hand from the woodwork when Steven Berghuis broke through early on, Alisson registered a shutout for the 90th time on his landmark outing.

Our No.1.