Home of football statistics and historyLiverpool finished round one of the new Premier League football season on top of the league after recording an impressive 4-0 win over West Ham United at Anfield. It was a performance better than manager Jurgen Klopp expected and it has got fans excited.
Last season’s Champions League finalists were pre-season second favourites with bookmakers to win the title, behind ante-post jolly Manchester City who went in at odds-on. The Cityzens looked the part when scalping Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates, but it was the Reds’ performance that impressed pundits most.
Source: Sky Sports Premier League via Twitter
Hosting The Hammers on Sunday afternoon, Liverpool made a mockery of the pre-match predictions of a tricky tie. There was an air of optimism in the stands as we went into a new campaign and that flowed down onto the park, the players responding to that backing. It took the locals just 19 minutes to get their noses in front, Mo Salah picking up where he left off last term when breaking the deadlock with a simple goal. That settled nerves in the camp, piled pressure on West Ham and opened the floodgates for more.
Sadio Mane was next to write headlines, bagging a brace with goals in first-half stoppage time and early after the restart. By the time the Senegalese winger made it 3-0, the writing was on the wall for the Londoners. Daniel Sturridge climbed off the bench to great effect, replacing Salah on 87 minutes and he made an instant impact. With the game dead and buried, the Englishman added a bit of sparkle – strengthening his own claims for a starting slot in the process. Sturridge scored with his first touch, 24 seconds after stepping onto the pitch.
Speaking to the press at full-time, victorious manager Jurgen Klopp labelled the performance “as good as possible”, extending a really good pre-season. He picked out James Milner and Georginio Wijnaldum in the middle of the park as particular highlights.
Source: City Watch via Twitter
Liverpool remain second-favourites in the Premier League betting with three points already in the bank. Betfair traders have them chalked up at 10/3 with Man City and two in a row no more than 8/13. That’s tight but it’s actually market best price. Traders across the board believe back-to-back wins is as close to a certainty as possible at this stage.
Pep Guardiola’s men unfurled the flag with a solid 2-0 win at the Emirates thanks to goals from Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva. The Englishman got the ball rolling with an opener on 14 minutes and his teammate doubled the advantage on 64.
That was City’s second 2-0 win over respected London opposition on the bounce having dealt out the same punishment to Chelsea at Wembley in the Community Shield. With four goals scored and none conceded, they are certainly living up to the summer hype surrounding their chances.
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