We’re four games into the English Premier League season, and even though it’s not an effective barometer for eventual league success, some clubs will be happier with their performance than others. While teams like Chelsea will be disappointed with their start in the context of the millions upon millions they spent this summer, clubs like Leicester City have exceeded expectations thus far. For Liverpool Football Club it’s been a fairly mixed bag, siding ever so slightly towards the positive. They dominated Stoke City in their opening day matchup, but their only real chance came from the match’s lone goal – a world-class strike by Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho. Against newly promoted side AFC Bournemouth, a sketchy offside non-call against the Brazilian resulted in new signing Christian Benteke’s first goal for the club and a second win for the Reds. It was a wee bit downhill from there: a world-class performance by Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech produced a draw against the London club, and an absolute drubbing by West Ham at Anfield that handed the Reds their first loss of the season.
A few key points on the season so far:
Transfer activity
IN: Christian Benteke (Aston Villa), Roberto Firmino (Hoffenheim), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton), Joe Gomez (Charlton), James Milner (Manchester City, free), Adam Bogdan (Bolton Wanderers, free), Danny Ings (Burnley, free)
OUT: Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Sebastian Coates (Sunderland), Fabio Borini (Sunderland), Rickie Lambert (West Bromwich Albion), Steven Gerrard (LA Galaxy, free), Glen Johnson (Released), Brad Jones (Released)
Loan activity
IN: None
OUT: Mario Balotelli (AC Milan), Lazar Markovic (Fenerbahce), Tiago Illori (Aston Villa), Luis Alberto (Deportivo La Coruna), Andre Wisdom (Norwich), Samed Yesil (Luzern)
Injury news:
Christian Benteke (thigh, expected to return by next week)
Jordan Henderson (foot, expected to return mid-September)
Adam Lallana (hip, expected to return late September)
Joe Allen (hamstring, expected to return late September)
Daniel Sturridge (hip, expected to return late September)
Jon Flanagan (knee, return unknown)
Best Starting XI
I think this is the best starting XI the team has at its disposal, if every single player is healthy. Of course, we can’t know if Daniel Sturridge is absolutely perfect for this setup as he hasn’t played with a number of the players, but when at 100%, I think most can agree that he is objectively better than Benteke. Rodgers has also refused, for whatever reason, to put Mamadou Sakho in the starting XI (and only on the bench recently) ahead of Dejan Lovren. The Croatian stated the season well, but was a huge reason for Liverpool’s nightmare against West Ham United.
Rating out of 5 stars: 3
