First big opponent of the season for Liverpool, excluding Arsenal!
Chelsea had a very busy summer and bought some real killers: Havertz, Werner, Ziyech… they have also invested in defence, picking up Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell. A week before this match Liverpool fans would probably be envious of this transfer activity, but Papa Edwards nuked the end of this week with two huge signings in Thiago and Jota.
Thiago was the best man on the pitch in the Champions League final, and Diogo is a top impact sub player according to EPL statistics. New boys did not get the nod, and the first XI was fairly predictable, if we don’t count in Joe Gomez’s omission.
Apparently Joe got a knock, and all Klopp had left to do was stick Fabinho as a centre back. Fab certainly has the height and length to do some good job, but with Lovren leaving and Matip nursing an old injury, we have to get a new face in until the window is closed. Ki Jana Hoever, one of the most promising young players left for Wolves, so I have little doubts that Kloppo has one more player up his sleeve.
Anyway, the first half did not give both sides a lot of chances. Timo Werner, the man that was rumored to join the Reds, got some cutting runs, but largely was neutralized by our makeshift CB. Fab did a marvelous job, and it’s a worry, because Jurgen might think that he’s so good we don’t need another centre back.
Of all people, Kante drove the ball forward the most. Wonderkid Kai is only getting his feet wet in the new leg, and Turbo Timo looked to exploit the space, yet didn’t get a lot of passes.. Not a lot of threats from Blues in the first, and the best moment belonged to Liverpool. Kepa was being his usual self, rushing out of the goal and completely losing control over his net. If it wasn’t for Christensen’s timely block, Firmino could have made it 1-0 in the first half.
While Christensen did well to deny LFC a goal then, he got a little careless after Mane was unleashed after a beautiful long range delivery by Captain Hendo! Danish lad grabbed him with both hands and took it to the ground, getting a red card. The official had to look at the monitor for a bit to overturn the initial yellow card… Trent’s shot is off target, and that’s the first half. I had a feeling we would get much better.
Thiago started the second half, subbing Hendo no less! Tomori on for Havertz, a rough start for the german prodigy so far, he will need more time to adapt in the new culture. But hey, that’s his problem.
I’m a Liverpool supporter, and I only care for my team. The second half started under total control of the Reds, and our magical trio of Bobby-Mo-Sadio combined to get the lead. Great chi from Firmino, and Mane gets a free header. A couple minutes later Mane catches Kepa with the ball and slots in his second, once again proving how shocking “the world’s most expensive goalie” is.
By that time the game was pretty much decided. Thiago got some touches and man, when he gels with the rest of the squad, we’re going to see some serious tiki taka going around. Flashes of brilliance were evident here, and a little blemish on Thiago’s record was a foul in the box on Timo. He earned another penalty, which was successfully thrown away by Jorginho. Awful penalty, but Alisson did well to parry it to James Milner. By the way, how bad is your team leadership-wise if Jorginho is rocking the armband?
Alisson showed how important a great keeper is, and saved the clean sheet for the champs. Salah was chasing a goal, but wasn’t that lucky today. At the very end Gini missed a 3-0 from close range, but it was hard for him to readjust himself.
All in all, this was a great performance. Fab did a fab job as a centre back, Thiago walked in right into the thick of things, and Mane proved his FPL doubters wrong. I enjoyed the portion of the match when Liverpool just rolled the ball around without getting pressured by the londoners. One of my favorite moments involved Robbo leaving Jorginho dead on the floor with his sharp turn. I laughed out loud, and that’s a shoot, brother.
Three points on the board, and we have started our third season in a row with 6 points.
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