The wait was long as the scoring chances were far from plentiful, but Liverpool were gifted a late penalty kick that Dominik Szoboszlai scored to beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.
MORE — Champions League table | Fixtures & results
Mohamed Salah was left out of the squad that traveled to Italy in the wake of the comments he aimed at manager Arne Slot on Sunday, and Liverpool were once again hugely improved defensively as a result of Szoboszlai taking the Egyptian’s place on the right wing. Inter Milan are Serie A’s top scorers this season with 32 goals in 14 games, nine more than anyone else in the league, and Liverpool limited them to all of 0.43 xG on 9 shots at the San Siro.
Slot has since said he has “no clue” if Salah has played his final game for the club, but the results on the field — four games unbeaten (2W-2D-0L) since Salah’s last start, a 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven last time out in the UCL — are hard to ignore after the Reds lost nine of 12 games in all competitions before Slot finally made the change he knew he would eventually have to make.
What’s next?
- Liverpool vs Brighton — Saturday, 10 am ET
- Marseille vs Liverpool (next UCL fixture — Jan. 21)
Inter Milan vs Liverpool live updates - by Andy Edwards
Inter Milan vs Liverpool final score: 0-1
Goalscorers: Dominik Szoboszlai (88')
GOAL! Inter Milan 0-1 Liverpool: Szoboszlai scores from the spot after a soft penalty (88')
IT HAD TO BE DOMINIK SZOBOSZLAI 🔥
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 9, 2025
Liverpool take the lead late on through a penalty at the San Siro! pic.twitter.com/Oz6wkLdk2v
Inter Milan starting lineup
Sommer - Akanji, Acerbi, Bastoni - Henrique, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco - Martinez, Thuram
Liverpool starting lineup
Alisson - Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson - Gravenberch, Jones, Mac Allister - Szoboszlai, Ekitike, Isak
How to watch Inter Milan vs Liverpool live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 3pm ET Tuesday (December 9)
Venue: San Siro — Milan, Italy
TV Channel/Streaming: Paramount+
Following their late collapse to draw 3-3 at Leeds on Saturday, in which Salah was an unused substitute as he started on the bench for the third game in a row, the Egyptian superstar spoke to reporters and lashed out at Arne Slot and the club for ‘throwing me under the bus’ during recent struggles. It remains to be seen if Salah, one of Liverpool’s greatest ever players, will ever play for Liverpool again after these comments and given his intimations that he could be playing elsewhere after he features for Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations over the festive period. Following his comments, Salah was left out of Liverpool’s squad for this trip to Inter Milan
On the pitch, Liverpool really need to win at Inter Milan to boost their chances of reaching the knockout rounds of the Champions League as one of the seeded teams. They were hammered 4-1 at home by PSV last time out and now face Inter, who sit in fourth place in the table with just one defeat from their five games so far. Inter are second in Serie A too, just one point behind leaders Napoli, and Cristian Chivu’s side are tough to break down and have the likes of Lautaro Martinez, Marcus Thuram and Hakan Calhanoglu who can punish you in attack.
Inter Milan team news, focus
Even after losing Simone Inzaghi as manager Inter have kept the 3-5-2 formation which has served them so well in recent years and have a very settled lineup. Calhanoglu dictates things in midfield while Martinez and Thuram have a great partnership up top. Wing backs are so important to the way Inter play and if Denzel Dumfries recovers from an ankle injury, he and Federico Dimarco will cause Liverpool problems defensively as defending in wide areas has been a problem for Arne Slot’s side all season long.
Liverpool team news, focus
It remains to be seen if Salah will play again for Liverpool as Slot didn’t rule out anything when speaking about the issue in his pre-match press conference in Milan. Salah did arrive at Liverpool’s training ground on Monday and trained with the team as normal, but he was then left out of Liverpool’s squad for the trip to Inter. In terms of injuries, Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni remain out but Slot has now seen injuries calm down and has some big decisions to make. Hugo Ekitike will surely start after his two goals against Leeds but does that mean Isak remains on the bench? Will Joe Gomez start at right back and Andy Robertson at left back to rotate defenders around?
Inter Milan vs Liverpool prediction
This feels like a really bad time for Liverpool to play Inter Milan. Expect a comfortable win for the home side. Inter Milan 3-1 Liverpool.
