Despite defeat to Saint Gilloise, Liverpool are confirmed as favourites to win the Europa League

It was a game to forget for Liverpool on Thursday night in the closing stages of the Europa League group stage when they lost 2-1 in Belgium to Saint Gilloise in a scoreline that, while painful, does not diminish the Reds' hopes of becoming champions of this tournament and they remain the favourites to win the trophy.

Belgium struck first and took the lead in the first half when Amoura scored in the 32nd minute from a mistake by captain Curtis Jones, but it was also preceded by an offside call that was not flagged by either the VAR or the referee in a clear affectation of Liverpool.

The Reds equalised a few minutes later with a notation from young defender Jarrel Quansah who took advantage of a corner kick and received the ball inside the box to fire a powerful shot with his right foot to beat the Belgium goalkeeper and put the score level. It was late in the first half that Saint Gilloise regained the lead with a goal from the Swiss Puertas who took advantage of another sloppy Liverpool defence.

Liverpool are favourites

Despite the defeat, Liverpool finished top of the group and advanced directly to the last 16 and await their opponents in the preliminary round of the last 16, which will pit the second-placed teams in the group against the teams that have been eliminated from the Champions League. Due to the level shown in this part of the tournament the Reds remain as the top favourites to be champions of the Europa League and one of the rivals to beat although a rival to watch out for will be Milan from Italy who join the competition after being eliminated from the Champions League.