And so it begins. Another opening weekend. Another new season. The phrase “hit the ground running” is usually thrown about at this time of a campaign and I think it is fair to say that both teams hit the ground at a steady jog. No Henderson, Fabinho, Milner, Oxlaide Chamberlain or Keita. Debuts for MacAllister and Szoboszlai and a new look front three where only Salah appears to be the certainty at the moment. The stage was set.
In an interesting first half, Liverpool took the lead through Luis Diaz in the 18th minute. After playing out from the back MacAllister swept the ball forward to release Salah who stood up his defender and played a perfectly weighted ball through to the rampaging Luis Diaz who slid through to dispatch the ball beyond a hapless Sanchez in the Chelsea goal. Both teams traded blows without really threatening up until the 31st minute where Salah thought he had put the visitors 2-0 ahead only to be ruled offside by the slightest of margins, denying Trent what would have been his first assist of the season and Mo’s traditional opening day goal.
This reprieve seemed to to spark something in the hosts who eventually pulled back a scrappy goal in the 37th after Liverpool failed to clear first a corner and then a second cross which was headed back in by Chilwell to a waiting Disasi who scuffed his shot but got enough on it to see it find the back of the net. Chelsea were disallowed a goal in the 40th minute. Chilwell was rightfully adjudged to be in an offside position and so the two teams went in to the half time break tied.
The second half was filled with half chances, great one on one saves from Alisson, yellow cards for fouled players asking for yellow cards and many substitutions. One notable occasion was Mo Salah’s reaction at being substituted and it looked like his anger was directed at Klopp’s decision to remove him from the match but it could just as much have been disappointment and frustration at himself. Klopp cleared all this up in his post match interview stating that he would be worried if his was happy to come off but he saw that team needed to regain control and thought that the changes were necessary.
So the point that was proved from Sunday’s performance is two-fold. We have made some solid signings and they will only get better the more they play together. The other side of that coin is that we definitely need one or two more signings before the window closes. I would say we need another centre back and a 6 to play behind MacAllister and Szoboszlai. The one thing that is clear is that this match was never going to win or lose us the title. There are 37 matches to go and many twist and turns along the way. We go again.
