Liverpool 4-0 Leverkusen: Diaz nets second-half hat-trick to extend 100% start

Luis Diaz scored a second-half hat-trick for Liverpool in their 4-0 victory at home to Bayer Leverkusen as they maintained their 100% start to their Champions League campaign.

Arne Slot’s side lead the 36-team league within Europe’s main competition following the result, with only Aston Villa alongside them as the only other club to have won every game. They play Club Brugge on Wednesday in their fourth match.

Back in Liverpool, things got off to a slow start with the scores level until the 61st minute. Diaz lifted the ball over goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky to get things moving before Cody Gakpo made it two just two minutes later.

Gakpo’s goal was initially ruled offside by the on-field official, though was overturned following a VAR review.

Diaz then scored his second and Liverpool’s third of the night in the 83rd minute after picking up Mohamed Salah’s cross and slotting past Hradecky. The Colombian rounded things off deep into stoppage time with a tap in from close range.

The result leaves Leverkusen 11th in the table with seven points, having tasted their first defeat of the competition at Anfield.

Liverpool 4-0 Bayer Leverkusen FT

Liverpool first half: 0.64 xG
Liverpool second half: 3.48 xG

What a second-half performance that was from Arne Slot’s men #UCL pic.twitter.com/FQOZoPpVHw

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) November 5, 2024

Data debrief: Slot has Liverpool purring

Liverpool are now top of both the Champions League standings and the Premier League and continue to go from strength to strength under Slot.

They looked much more threatening in the second half compared to the first, registering 3.48 xG in the second period after just 0.64 in the first half.

Diaz, meanwhile, has now scored nine goals in 15 matches in all competitions.