Stefan Bajcetic was forced to miss Salzburg’s first win of the Champions League, while Ben Doak caught the eye again with a brilliant assist for Middlesbrough.
In a difficult start to life in charge of Salzburg, former Liverpool assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders saw defeats in each of his first three Champions League games.
Those came to Sparta Prague (3-0), Brest (4-0) and Dinamo Zagreb (2-0), while mixed results in the Austrian Bundesliga have left them fourth and eight points off the top – albeit with two games in hand.
Things changed on Wednesday night as Lijnders led Salzburg to a 3-1 victory over Arne Slot‘s former side Feyenoord, with Bobby Clark playing a part in Karim Konate’s second goal.
Absent was Liverpool loanee Bajcetic, who was unable to take part due to an illness that saw him ruled out of training in the buildup.
“He’s got NO right to score with that narrow angle” ?
Riley McGree for Middlesbrough ? pic.twitter.com/dMXN6GhYAt
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) November 5, 2024
It was a more productive midweek for Doak, however, as he came away with his first assist for Middlesbrough in a 4-1 win at QPR.
Doak had sat out of the 3-0 loss to Coventry at the weekend as Michael Carrick manages his fitness, but was back in the starting lineup on Tuesday night and laid on Riley McGree’s opener.
He did so with a brilliant piece of trickery on the right flank, beating his marker with a series of stepovers and drilling a cross which was expertly converted.
The 18-year-old played 89 minutes at Loftus Road, with no player creating more chances (four) or completing more dribbles (six of seven attempts), per FotMob.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Kaide Gordon made his first start for Norwich as they lost 2-0 to Sheffield Wednesday.
It was a quiet night for the winger, though, and after being substituted in the 58th minute he was given a five-out-of-10 rating by the Eastern Daily Press‘ Samuel Seaman.
“He blended into the background and what little he saw of the ball didn’t result in much,” Seaman wrote. “It was always going to be a tough time to make his full debut, but one can’t argue that he made the best of it.”
Lewis Koumas has been a more frequent starter for Stoke and he made his 10th in the Championship on Wednesday night – in a 2-0 win at Blackburn.
Koumas was deployed on the left wing and played 56 minutes in a game marked by the absence of Owen Beck for Blackburn, with the left-back unavailable due to a minor back injury.
Finally, Nat Phillips made only his second start for Derby – and his first since the start of October – as they earned a 2-1 win away to Coventry.
Liverpool Loan Watch Roundup
Unavailable: Stefan Bajcetic, Owen Beck, Calum Scanlon
Not in action: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Calvin Ramsay, Luke Chambers, Marcelo Pitaluga, Luca Stephenson, Rhys Williams, Fabian Mrozek
