After a lively start, achtzehn99 spurned the chance to open the scoring when Simon Mignolet saved Andrej Kramaric’s penalty at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena.

And it was the Reds who did the break the deadlock when Trent Alexander-Arnold grabbed his first-ever goal for the club with a sensational long-range free-kick on 35 minutes.

In a keenly-fought contest, James Milner came off the bench to net Liverpool’s second, finding the top corner via a deflection off Havard Nordtveit.

However, with full-time approaching, Mark Uth’s drive pulled a goal back for Hoffenheim to give the Bundesliga side something to cheer ahead of the return meeting at Anfield next week.