Liverpool is the only team in the Champions League to have won four matches in a row so far this season with Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo securing the points in the second half at Anfield.

After a first-half stalemate, Liverpool moved into the ascendency. It took a magical moment from Curtis Jones to slide Diaz in behind; the Colombian lifted a deft shot over the goalkeeper and he ended up netting a hat-trick.

Xabi Alonso’s side had taken some breaking down but only moments after the opener, Gakpo was just onside as he secured the result. Here are the four things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded, with Diaz adding a third and a fourth late on.

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Luis Diaz emerges as number nine option

With Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa injured, Arne Slot’s attacking options have been cut by a third. Even so, he chose to go without Darwin Nunez from the start, with Diaz playing centrally instead, allowing Gakpo to remain wide left.

The Colombian did that very well when he came on against Brighton and showed some glimpses here. He wasn’t always central — at times, Diaz did drift wide — but he was unequivocally the striker, often joined by an advanced Curtis Jones.

Jurgen Klopp would undoubtedly have had Diaz and Gakpo in opposite positions, but Slot has his own way of doing things. There is no doubt that Gakpo is better wide, and on this evidence, Diaz can do a job in the middle too. He got a hat-trick here with the decision to play Gakpo on the left flank paying dividends too.

Luis Diaz of Liverpool is challenged by Granit Xhaka of Bayer 04 Leverkusen during Champions League match at Anfield. (Image: Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)

Curtis Jones shines and Alexis Mac Allister good

Dominik Szoboszlai was taken out of the team and given a rest, and Alexis Mac Allister, a player who looked very tired last weekend, suddenly found much more energy. He and Jones were very good in a congested midfield area in and out of possession.

Both teams canceled one another out for the most part before the interval, with much of the play in the central third. Jones and Mac Allister, as well as Ryan Gravenberch behind them, more than held their own. It was a tactical and cagey stalemate between two really well-coached and well-set-up teams.

Jones did find a few pockets of space and he was the most advanced. Mac Allister joined him as often as he could but it was the number 17 who produced the moment of magic to break the deadlock: a sensational pass into Diaz. Jones was superb in all aspects and it was his pass that ignited what became a resounding win.

Curtis Jones of Liverpool holds off a challenge from Aleix Garcia of Bayer 04 Leverkusen during the Champions League match at Anfield. (Image: Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)

Xabi Alonso message recieved

Every time the ball went dead, Alonso reiterated the same message to his players: keep it calm. It’s probably not the worst idea when you have Granit Xhaka — a man who had inadvertently ignited Anfield before — in your ranks, but it didn’t pay off in the end.

Alonso insisted pre-match that he hadn’t spoken to his players about the atmosphere but Leverkusen very deliberately tried to keep things quiet. It was a match that he wanted to be very equal and balanced and he didn’t want to jeopardize that. In fairness, it was Liverpool brilliance rather than a Leverkusen error that changed things.

At one stage, Alonso was picked up by the microphones speaking to Edmond Tapsoba, one of his center-backs, about Virgil van Dijk. It’s unclear if he was saying to play the ball “aside” or “inside” the Dutchman, but either way, the German side was intent on avoiding having to go up against him where possible. That is often a tactic teams use without that being public knowledge.

Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso. (Image: Jörg Schüler/Bayer 04 Leverkusen via Getty Images)

What is required for Champions League progression

Liverpool is in the most promising position possible to qualify for the knockout phase without the need for a play-off round, which can be achieved by finishing inside the top eight spots. Next up, though, is another tough test in the form of Real Madrid.

It would be nice to wrap up qualification before the two European fixtures that take place in January, affording Slot some more chances to change things up and rotate. Exactly how many points are required to make that happen, though, remains to be seen. A win against Real Madrid would go a long way at the end of the month.