LIVERPOOL/MARSEILLE (AFP) - Lacklustre Liverpool beat Midtjylland 2-0 on Tuesday (Oct 27) to make it two wins out of two in the Champions League but their defensive problems mounted as Fabinho limped off injured.

The Premier League champions were toothless in the first half but finally clicked 10 minutes after the break when the impressive Trent Alexander-Arnold set up Diogo Jota for a tap-in.

A late penalty scored by substitute Mohamed Salah gave the scoreline unwarranted gloss.

The manager left his first-choice attack of Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino on the bench against the Danes, giving his second string a chance to shine.

But Liverpool, lacking urgency and fluency at an empty Anfield, struggled to break down the hard-working visitors, who lost their Champions League opener to Atalanta 4-0.

The opening could have been worse for Klopp's men.

Midtjylland had a chance to take a shock lead in the opening minutes when a long clip down the middle sent Anders Dreyer in on goal and Alisson Becker had to make a smart save.

Liverpool, who beat Ajax away in their Champions League opener, hogged possession but struggled to create clear chances in the early stages.

Most of what little threat there was in the first half came from full-back Alexander-Arnold, who produced a cross which Takumi Minamino failed to connect with.

Alexander-Arnold then danced through the Midtjylland defence midway through the opening period but failed to find the Japan international.

But Klopp's problems became a lot more serious just before the half-hour, when Fabinho, filling in alongside Joe Gomez in central defence, limped off with an apparent hamstring injury.

Klopp is already coming to terms with the absence of central defensive lynchpin Virgil van Dijk, who could be out for the whole season.

As half-time approached, Alexander-Arnold drilled another cross to Minamo, who headed wide.

But Liverpool failed to register a single first-half shot on target for the first time in 51 home games in all competitions, since October 2018.

Gini Wijnaldum replaced captain Jordan Henderson at half-time and after a few minutes Klopp ordered Salah and Mane to warm up on the sidelines.

The breakthrough finally came when Alexander-Arnold received the ball on the right and exchanged passes with Xherdan Shaqiri before crossing for Jota to finish from close range.

It was Liverpool's 10,000th goal in all competitions, 128 years after their first, netted by Jock Smith in September 1892.

Salah and Mane came on just after the hour mark for Minamino and the disappointing Divock Origi but Liverpool still struggled for rhythm.

Firmino missed a clear chance for Liverpool in the closing minutes after yet more good work from Alexander-Arnold.

They almost paid the price immediately but Dreyer could only find the side-netting after drifting past Gomez.

Liverpool escaped and Salah won the penalty which he converted.

Meanwhile, Manchester City made it two wins from two in their latest bid for Champions League glory as Kevin De Bruyne starred in a straightforward 3-0 win at Marseille on Tuesday.

The English side, who have never reached the semi-finals under Pep Guardiola, sit top of the early Group C table after their opening victory at Porto last week.

With De Bruyne running the show in midfield on his first start since returning from injury, City cruised past a largely ineffective Marseille.

Andre-Villas Boas's men, playing in their first Champions League campaign since 2013, are rooted to the foot of the group after back-to-back defeats. Porto sit second behind City after a 2-0 win over Olympiakos in Group C's other match on Tuesday.

City, who have only won two of their opening five Premier League games this season, started with Ferran Torres up front in the absence of injured duo Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus.

The visitors dominated the early stages without creating many clear-cut chances, but were handed the opening goal in the 18th minute.

Marseille midfielder Valentin Rongier's dreadful pass put De Bruyne in the clear, and the Belgian squared for Torres to slot in his third City goal since signing from Valencia.

City appeared likely to win without any help from their opponents, but Marseille defender Leonardo Balerdi contrived to lose the ball inside his own area and was fortunate to see Oleksandr Zinchenko's effort clip the base of the post.

The home side were much improved after the interval, though, and City goalkeeper Ederson was lucky to fumble a long-range strike from Florian Thauvin onto his post and behind.

But any hopes of a push for a late OM equaliser were put to bed 14 minutes from time.

Phil Foden stood a high ball up to the back post which Raheem Sterling nodded down for Ilkay Gundogan to score. It was not long before De Bruyne collected his second assist of the game, as his low pass was tapped home by Sterling.