Liverpool lived up to their billing as the biggest threat to Manchester City retaining the Premier League title as both sides shone on the opening weekend of the season.
So often outgunned by the oil wealth of Abu Dhabi-backed City or commercial giants-backed Manchester United in recent years, Liverpool were the biggest spenders from the world’s richest league this summer with a reported US$217 million splurge in the transfer market.
The first return on that investment came in Sunday’s 4-0 thrashing of a limited West Ham that even Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp admitted “are not the Uniteds or Citys.”
Photo: AFP
City showed just what a task overturning a 25-point deficit last season would be for Liverpool in outclassing Arsenal in a 2-0 win at the Emirates despite a far more disrupted preparation for the campaign due to the FIFA World Cup commitments of most of their squad.
Salah started where he left off from an incredible 44-goal debut campaign at Anfield by opening the scoring before Mane struck twice and Daniel Sturridge added a late fourth.
Midfielder Naby Keita was a bundle of energy and the star performer of the new boys that showed why Liverpool were willing to shell out millions and wait a year for the Guinean after agreeing on a deal with Leipzig last summer.
“You can only imagine how good he’s going to be with more time,” Liverpool midfielder James Milner said.
Finding the net is nothing new for Klopp on opening day. His side scored four at Arsenal in 2016 and three at Watford last season, but also conceded three on both occasions.
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker was rarely troubled, but looked assured in starting attacks from the back, while Virgil van Dijk was imperious in sniffing out any sense of danger.
However, the German now has a wealth of options not previously afforded to him, as evidenced by the sight of new signings Fabinho, Xherdan Shaqiri, Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana on Sunday’s bench.
“We are still Rocky Balboa, not Ivan Drago,” he said on the eve of the season, invoking the underdog spirit of the fictional American boxer.
No knockout blows have yet been landed, but Liverpool have come out swinging.
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