Liverpool beat Lille 2-1 in the Champions League but Reds-linked Jonathan David was on target for the French side.

Jonathan David heaped praise on Liverpool after they sank LOSC Lille in the Champions League.

The Reds earned a 2-1 triumph to confirm their spot in the last 16 of Europe’s elite club competition. Arne Slot’s side were dominant for much of the encounter, with Mo Salah and Harvey Elliott on target either side of half-time.

However, despite being reduced to 10 men, Lille did give Liverpool a brief scare. It was the prolific David who got the French side level when he netted in the 62nd minute. He plundered his 18th goal of the campaign, having also bagged in Champions League wins over Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

David has been linked with a switch to Liverpool with his contract at Les Dogues due to expire at the end of the season. And the Canada international agreed with Brentford manager Thomas Frank’s recent assessment that the Reds are the ‘best team in the world’. Speaking to Amazon Prime, David said: “Very good team. I think they might be the best team in the world at the moment.

“Tonight is one more goal [for me]. I’m happy I managed to score but we didn’t manage to get the three points. We came against the first of the Champions League group so we knew it was going to be a complicated game – even more so when we went to 10 men.”

The Athletic recently suggested that Liverpool are among the clubs who ‘rate’ David. The 25-year-old appears set to depart Lille when his current deal expires in the summer and he will not be short of suitors trying to sign him on a free transfer.

Speaking to The Athletic earlier this season, David said: “What am I waiting for? I guess now it’s easier to say. I’m in the last year of my contract. Eventually my contract is going to run out. So then we’ll see. We’ll see what happens next year.

“I’m open to anything. I think obviously the Premier League is regarded as one of the best league in the world. And for me it’s not the Premier League or bust. I’m open to anything and every league has its challenges.”

Liverpool have two centre-forward options in Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, but both have flaws. Nunez, who featured for 90 minutes against Lille, has struggled for consistency since arriving from Benfica in the summer of 2022 for a joint-record fee of £75 million. The Uruguay international has recently been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia but the Reds have no appetite to sell in January.

Jota, meanwhile, is regarded as the Reds’ best finisher in front of goal but has had perpetual injury issues. The Portugal international is currently on the treatment table with a muscle problem picked up after netting the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest last week and is set to be absent for at least a couple of weeks.

Luis Diaz has operated as a makeshift striker at times this season despite primarily being a left-winger.