Winning start for Liverpool in Champions League

Dirk Kuyt's strike on the stroke of half-time gave Liverpool a narrow 1-0 win over Hungarian champions Debrecen in their Champions League opening game at Anfield.

Wednesday night's game was Rafa Benitez's 300th match in charge of the Reds and he afforded himself the luxury of naming the same Liverpool team that beat Burnley 4-0 at Anfield on Saturday.

In the first half action, Riera had two fierce strikes saved in the 38th and 39th minute, with Kuyt seeing a follow-up cleared off the line.

But after Gerrard sidefooted inches wide of the upright, the breakthrough came on 45 minutes when Debrecen's goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic parried a Torres shot and was helpless to prevent Kuyt from converting the rebound.

It was all Liverpool after the interval, with Gerrard whistling a 20-yard volley inches over the crossbar, Yossi Benayoun being denied by a fine save and Lucas Leiva and Torres heading good chances off target.

Despite failing to carve out a bigger victory, Liverpool fans will be happy that the main goal of making a winning start in Group E has been achieved comfortably.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

In their next match, Liverpool are back on the road in the Barclays Premier League and will travel to Upton Park to take on West Ham United. The Reds will be looking to secure their second away victory of the season - and they have enjoyed several good results in East London in recent years. Last season, Ryan Babel added to a Steven Gerrard brace as Liverpool ran out comfortable 3-0 victors. However, in 2007-08, West Ham claimed a 1-0 win with an injury-time Mark Noble penalty.