Mo Salah ran to the dressing room at the final whistle, barely glancing at the visitors, Virgil van Dijk was similarly irritated, muttering to himself as the consequences of the 2-2 draw with Fulham began to sink in. Jurgen Klopp wasn’t far behind, offering only a polite round of applause as he made his way to the shrine. He was calmer than before, having previously engaged in a frank exchange with Alisson, and nearly exploded when Andy Robertson made the wrong choice. Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool endured a difficult start to the season with a 2-2 draw at Fulham. The Reds players saw the draw as a defeat having already lost ground in the title race
MATCH DETAILS
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Rodak 7; Tete 7, Tosin 7, Ream 7, Robinson 8.5; Reed 7, Palhina 7; Kebano 7.5 (Solomon 66min, 6), Pereira 6 (Cairney 89), De Cordova-Reid 7 (Duffy 90+4); Mitrovic 8. Scorer: Mitrovic 32, 72 (pen). Booking: Tete, De Cordova-Reid. Director: Marco Silva 7. Liverpool (4-3-3) Alison 5.5; Alexander-Arnold 6, Matip 6, Van Dijk 5, Robertson 7; Henderson 7.5, Fabinho 6 (Milner 59, 7), Thiago 5 (Elliott 51, 6.5); Salah 6, Firmino 5 (Nunez 51, 8), Diaz 6 (Carvalho 78). Scorers: Nunez 64, False 80. Booking: None. Coach: Jurgen Klopp 6.5. Referee: Andrew Madley 6. Attendance: Not provided.
In the not so distant past, a point at a new club on opening day would be acceptable. Fulham, playing with grit and effort in front of an enthusiastic crowd, thoroughly deserved a share of the spoils and could feel a little sad not to win. But this is a new world of football where there is no room for false steps and the atmosphere is such that anything short of a win feels like the end of the world. To make an analogy, this title race is like the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. In that race they go from the finish, never taking a breath over two miles and 13 fences, and are seldom tangled in the finish by those who make a mistake at the first three hurdles. If the pace is wrong from the start, it’s hard to recover. And how wrong Liverpool’s pace was. It all started inside the first minute when Trent Alexander-Arnold carelessly and casually gave away possession and gave Aleksandar Mitrovic the invitation to set the tone for Fulham by breaking into the box. Mitrovic would score twice and the confidence he took, having only scored three times in his final Premier League season, was evident for all to see. “That’s what it was all about last year and that’s what we’re going to continue to do,” teammate Tim Ream said. “His first goal was a vintage header at the far post, leaping over the full-back. You give him a chance and he will make the most of it. “I’m not sure we expected him to put two away against one of the strongest defenses in the league, but as long as he’s putting chances in the back of the net, we’ll be fine.” Darwin Nunez came on and scored a goal as he did in the Community Shield Whenever the Serb threatened, Klopp was on his feet with his face up and hands on his hips. Part of his assessment afterwards was that the pitch was too dry but, while it’s a nice headline, the remark shouldn’t obscure the fact that this was a poor performance from Liverpool. “We can play a lot better,” admitted Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, who almost saved his side with an injury-time shot that smashed the crossbar. “There are no excuses from us. I felt like we looked a little lethargic at times, we didn’t play like we usually do.” It must be a one-off. There were positives for Klopp – not least the exciting switch of Darwin Nunez, who scored one of the equalizers with an audacious backheel and set up the other for Salah – but not enough to take real comfort. Mo Salah scored his first weekend goal yet again to rescue a point for Liverpool on Saturday The reason is clear: much was made last season about a title race going back to the wire and how Liverpool’s failure to win any of their six games against the other three teams in the top four cost them (they took six points from them meetings compared to champions Manchester City’s eight). Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice to stun Liverpool at Craven Cottage. This, however, is a skewed perspective. Whatever may happen against the teams around you, what matters is that you win the games you have to play. City have taken 18 points from 18 in six games against newly promoted sides. Liverpool got 16. So, in the end, the 3-3 draw at Brentford last September proved decisive. Nobody knew it at the time but, if Liverpool had won that night, they would have been champions at the end of the season. That’s why the body language at the final whistle on Saturday was so telling. “There’s a lot to work on,” Henderson said. “It’s only the first day of the season, but we wanted to start much better than that. We still have a long way to go and we need to improve quickly. “We’ve got a decent week now to prepare for the next game, so we’ve got to use it as much as we can.” To cross the distance, they have no choice.
NEW FACES WHO MADE THE BIGGEST IMPRESSION
DARWIN NUNEZ – Liverpool GOALS, ASSISTS and no reason to start on the bench again next week. The £64million man was electric at Craven Cottage after replacing Roberto Firmino on 51 minutes. He immediately had a shot saved by Marek Rodak, going in with a move when a simple finish might have been enough. But undeterred, he tried the same trick on 64 minutes and this time he broke free, with a little help from Tosin Adarabioyo. And when the Reds again needed a savior at 2-1 up in the 80th minute, Nunez touched a long ball for Mo Salah to slot in. Erlig Halland – Manchester City Not to be outdone in the fray of new star centre-forwards, City’s £51million Norwegian made every one of his 32 touches count. He surprised the West Ham defense with his pace as he won a penalty which he then converted and then burst back in the second half to make it two from Kevin De Bruyne’s pass. You might see this combination a few more times this season. BRENDAN ARONSON – Leeds United The ‘Medford Messi’ arrived from RB Salzburg with a £25m price tag and no shortage of expectations, but made an immediate impact with his off the ball and ability in possession. The only negative for him came via the dubious goals panel, who ruled his winning goal had come from Wolves’ Ryan Ait-Nouri. KALIDO KOULIBALI – Chelsea COULIBALLY took on John Terry’s old No 26 shirt and immediately looked at home, strolling to the first clean sheet in English football. His tackle was excellent and the sound of his pass, sending Ben Chilwell clear with a decisive ball that led to Chelsea’s penalty. Keep it up and the Terry comparisons will be bigger than the number on the back.
