Liverpool’s start to their Premier League title defence was certainly an eventful one.
In the Premier League curtain raiser against AFC Bournemouth, Liverpool raced into a 2-0 lead.
This was thanks to goals from new boy Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo.
A double from Antoine Semenyo meant that with ten minutes remaining of normal time, Liverpool were in danger of already dropping points.
Drawing at home to Bournemouth would have been an underwhelming start to a campaign, given that it took them until October 27th to draw a game last season.
Furthermore, they only dropped points against four teams who didn’t qualify for European football.
Liverpool found the route to victory through the form of substitute Federico Chiesa, who netted an 88th minute winner, before Mohamed Salah made sure of the three points.
His 94th minute goal saw the game end 4-2, and Liverpool eventually leave Anfield with a win under their belts.
Here are four things we learnt from Liverpool’s 4-2 win over Bournemouth.
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Hugo Ekitike is going to be a problem
Liverpool beat Newcastle United to the signing of Ekitike for an initial £69 million in July, and he has certainly gotten off to a good start.
He made his goalscoring prowess known to England after a debut goal just four minutes into his debut, during their Community Shield bout with Crystal Palace. Whilst it was not as early as four minutes, he found the net once again in this game.
His 37th-minute strike ensured Liverpool went into the halftime break in the lead, and he looked a threat all game, before being hauled off around the hour mark.
His link up play was good, he set up Gakpo’s second and showed exactly how good his finishing is with a well-timed finish past Bournemouth goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic.
Whilst two games is not a big enough sample size to truly know what the size of his legacy could be at Anfield; it has been a good start.
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Some signings will need time to bed in
Whilst Ekitike impressed, and Wirtz showed his quality in bursts, it was a different story for their two new full backs.
Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez failed to impress, in particular the latter.
Frimpong had some good moments, and the problems caused by Bournemouth were mostly on the opposite side to him, but he did not do enough to prove that he can be an upgrade on Trent, both going forward and defensively.
Kerkez had a difficult night, a Welcome to Liverpool moment for the Hungarian left-back. Bought in as the predecessor to Andy Robertson, the Scot may feel he has a chance to start again this season.
At times during the game, Kerkez looked rash. He failed to offer much going forward and struggled against Antoine Semenyo throughout the entire of the time he was on the field.
One thing that will go in their favour was that the two goals were scored after their substitutions, but it was not a performance for either player to be particular excited about.
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The defence will need to improve
Whilst Virgil van Dijk was faultless, the other three defenders and those that came on had days to forget.
Along with aforementioned struggles of Kerkez and Frimpong, centre-back Ibrahima Konaté was the poorest performer on the night with some questionable decision making.
Endo, Joe Gomez and Robertson failed to improve things after coming on, and they will want the defensive performance to improve if they are to secure their first back-to-back league title since 1984.
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Diogo Jota will always be a part of Liverpool Football Club
Whilst Liverpool started their season with a win, the most important part of the evening was the tribute to Diogo Jota prior to kick-off.
Jota and his brother André Silva tragically passed away in July, and the club has been in a state of mourning ever since.
There have been tributes from many different clubs across the world, most recently Chelsea, who donated part of their FIFA Club World Cup winnings to the family of Jota and his brother.
It is arguably one of the loudest Anfield has ever been, as the crowd sang You’ll Never Walk Alone in unison. There were cards held up with mosaics to commemorate both Jota and his brother, as Liverpool and Bournemouth stood side by side around the centre circle as they took in the noise.
A minute silent was honoured with respect and there were chants of “Oh, his name his Diogo” run around Anfield all game. Whilst Jota may be gone, he will always be a part of Liverpool Football Club.
