Bradley Barcola scored twice and Ronald Araujo also opened his Liverpool account as the Reds took command of their Champions League tie with LASK Linz by moving into a 3-0 first-half lead.

Liverpool made four changes from the side that lost 3-0 to Manchester City at the weekend, with captain Virgil van Dijk among those to drop out of the XI.

Araujo, on loan from Barcelona, shifted to centre-back from right-back, and he broke the deadlock for Andoni Iraola’s men with a fine 22nd-minute header from Konstantinos Tsimikas’ corner.

Barcola, who arrived this summer from Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of £123million including add-ons, received criticism for an ineffective display against City.

But he fired into the far corner two minutes after Araujo’s opener following Rio Ngumoha’s superb run, and then latched on a pass from Florian Wirtz, himself the subject of continued scrutiny amid disappointing form, to double his tally from close range and make it 3-0.