Steven Gerrard believes Liverpool have shown they can 'go the distance' in Champions League - but says Arne Slot must stop talking about low blocks

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Steven Gerrard has called on Liverpool to carry the same mindset that produced Wednesday’s commanding 3-0 win at Marseille, insisting that a deep run in this season's Champions League is well within reach of his former club. Gerrard highlighted Arne Slot's now-familiar tendency to discuss facing a low block as being a problem and instead urged the Reds manager to concentrate on finding solutions.

Highlights: Salah returns as Liverpool silence Marseille crowd with impressive win

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Steven Gerrard has urged Liverpool to harness the same mentality on show in Wednesday's impressive 3-0 victory at Marseille, with the club's former captain believing that going the distance in this season's UEFA Champions League isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

Strikes from Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo either side of a Geronimo Rulli own goal secured a comfortable away win for Arne Slot's men which puts them in a strong position to qualify automatically for the last 16.

Liverpool are currently fourth in the table, and host Qarabag next Wednesday knowing that another three points would seal a top-eight finish in the league phase, avoiding a two-legged knockout play-off in February.

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Gerrard had described the 1-1 draw against Burnley in the Premier League last weekend as "unacceptable" as Liverpool registered 32 shots but could only convert one of their chances.

There were no such problems at the Stade Velodrome, but the challenge now is to show the same ruthlessness for the rest of the campaign.

‘We were very positive’ – Slot reflects on crucial Liverpool win in Marseille

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"The Premier League has probably gone," Gerrard told TNT Sports. "You expect Arsenal to go on and win that. Who knows what's going to happen, but they're currently not in the title race. But we know they've got the quality and the experience. We haven't seen this run of form from them for a very long time, but you have got to respect them.

"There's still an awful lot for this Liverpool team to play for. The FA Cup is huge, finishing in the top four is huge, but even more important is this Champions League.

"If they can keep this group of players fit, and if towards the latter stages they can be in the competition further on and they could then introduce Alexander Isak back into the squad. This team has proven that it can go the distance in this competition.

"They were ruthless in the right moments tonight, and the most pleasing thing for Arne besides the clean sheet will be how they took the game away from Marseille."

Szoboszlai finally broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time, cleverly sliding his free-kick beneath the Marseille wall and beyond Pau Lopez’s replacement, Rulli, in goal.

‘I did my homework’ – Szoboszlai says preparation paid off after free-kick opener

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The visitors doubled their advantage in the 72nd minute when Jeremie Frimpong's blistering pace carried him to the byline, his cut-back taking a deflection before clipping Rulli and trickling over the line.

Gakpo put the result beyond doubt with virtually the final kick of the contest, stepping off the bench to curl a precise low finish into the far corner - by which point Mohamed Salah had snatched at a glorious chance to mark his return to the side with a goal.

Reflecting on the Egyptian's performance, Gerrard continued: "I thought he did OK tonight, when you take everything into consideration. He's come back off the back of a tournament where he got to a semi-final, which must have been a big deal for him.

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"He would've travelled back on Sunday after the game on Saturday. He probably only had one session with the team, and then he had to travel to Marseille. He played the majority of the game, nearly scored on a couple of occasions.

"I think he'll be disappointed with the one on the outside of his foot. He makes a mistake with the execution because he could've used more of a curling action with the left foot and bent it over the 'keeper.

"Knowing the standards that he's set over many years, he'll be disappointed with that one. Knowing him, he'll be thinking about one all night but in the main he did a good job for the team, worked hard."

'Slot needs to stop mentioning low blocks'

Slot was pleased with how his side took enough of their chances to record a convincing victory, but he was again challenged on what he must do now in order to ensure greater consistency from one game to another.

Speaking to TNT Sports, the Dutchman explained: "I know so well why we're not consistent and that is mainly to do with when a game is more open, when tactics are involved and when players can play through the lines.

"When they can show how good they are, it's a completely different game to playing against a low block, which requires a completely different quality. You just have the ball a lot in those situations, you get into the final third and hope for something to happen. Pep [Guardiola] said something about that and I've said it about 15 times already this season as well.

‘Stop talking about low blocks’ – Gerrard urges Slot to ‘find solutions’ at Liverpool

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"You cannot compare that to what we saw tonight, where both teams want to play want to play out from the back or want to press. Every game we've played this season where this was the situation, we've played very good games.

"We've lost at Man City, we've lost at Chelsea but many of these games we got results. But the reason why we're inconsistent - if you want to call going 14 times unbeaten inconsistent - it has all to do with us struggling against low blocks."

While this was a positive night for Liverpool and a step in the right direction, Gerrard singled out Slot's willingness to repeat his team's struggles to breach opposition happy to sit behind the ball, and called on the manager to focus on finding solutions.

"He needs to stop talking about low blocks. Low blocks have been happening against Liverpool ever since I played, and many years before me. That's just the way it is. Teams are going to do that, they're going to try everything they can to try to stop Liverpool.

"The key is you have to find the solutions. With the players, you will then turn those 'low-block games' into wins rather than draws. But it's not going to change.

"It's what this team is going to face. They're probably going to face a low block at times against Bournemouth at the weekend, but they've got to be ruthless - and the big players have got to step forward and score the goals to win the games, because they are difficult to win."

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