An own-goal from Andy Webster was all that separated the two sides as Liverpool scraped a narrow 1-0 victory over Hearts in the first leg of their Europa League play-off at Tynecastle.
The Edinburgh side impressed for much of the tie before suffering a late blow against their Barclays Premier League visitors, who made the trip across the border without a number of star players.
The result was far more credible than Hearts' 5-0 thrashing against Tottenham at the same venue last season and at least provides some hope ahead of the second leg at Anfield next week.
Andy Carroll failed to make the Reds squad for the game - despite his presence at the stadium - as a question mark remained over his Liverpool future, with the £35million striker linked with a return to Newcastle.
