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The Prophet
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Liverpool opened the Premier League season with a home game against newly promoted Watford. Klopp brought back his 4-2-3-1 formation but pushed the two anchor men into two central midfielders, compacting the top two thirds of the pitch. From minute one with the industrial Can and Allen in midfield and the raw speed and talent of Origi up front Liverpool dominated a very one sided game. Sahko saw himself score a rare goal with a bullet header from a Coutinho corner and minutes later the Brazilian turned goal scorer with a sublime solo effort from just outside of the area. Watford looked shell shocked and the bombardment only got worse after half time with Joe Allen combined with Danny Ings, a first half substitute for the injured Adam Lallana, bulleting in a screamer from just inside the area barely a minute into the second half. Left back Alberto Moreno shone down the left keeping Anya quiet and got his rewards with a timely back post run to tap into an empty net after a Nathaniel Clyne cross from right hand by-line, Liverpool were 4-0 up and cruising comfortably. Troy Deeney compounded Watford’s bad day at the office by missing an open goal late in the second half which was quickly punished by a moving counter attack with Moreno playing a long ball forward to Origi who found man of the match Allen breaking into the 18 yard box and the Welshman didn’t disappoint, a 5-0 win and a lot of potential for the rest of the season.
On the back of their thrilling opening day demolition of Watford, Liverpool travelled to the King Power to entertain a Leicester side that had only just survived last year, however without five key players in Sturridge, Henderson, Lallana, Firmino and Milner, Liverpool had to field Kevin Stewart and Jordan Rossiter on their bench alongside Jose Enrique, Kolo Toure, Chrisitian Benteke, Simon Mignolet and Lucas Leiva. One positive for the reds was that Dominic Beradi’s paperwork had been submitted before the Friday lunchtime deadline after a £21.5 Million move from Sassulo and started on the right hand side of the three behind Ings with Coutinho and Origi in the centre and on the left respectively. Okazaki and Vardy started upfront for the Foxes and combined twice in the opening twelve minutes to see Leicester take an early two nil lead with Okazaki finding the net on both occasions, this was compounded by a Sahko thigh injury with Kolo Toure coming on in the 9th minute for the Frenchman. Beradi however proved the one positive on a dreadful away performance and scored his first ever goal in English football after 31 minutes after Schlupp blocked an Origi shot.
Half time couldn’t come soon enough for the reds and Klopp made another change sending on Benteke to deal with the physicality of Huth and Morgan who’d bullied Ings out of the game. 15 minutes later and that tuned into an inspired change with a Benteke flick on connecting with a Timo Horn clearance which set Beradi through who cooly sent the ball the on rushing keeper to make it 2-2. Liverpool pressed constantly for the winner but fell foul of their own downfall with Topal giving away the ball on the edge of the Leicester box, Drinkwater sprayed the ball out to Mahrez who slipped it through to Okazaki with the Japanese star rounding off his hat trick after seeing his initial shot parried. Origi and Beradi both hit the woodwork in the last ten minutes but Jamie Vardy, after another Leicester counter attack, killed off all Liverpool hopes deep in stoppage time. A 4-2 loss away at a team that Liverpool should be beating didn’t go down as ideal preparation for the North West Derby that coming Saturday.
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The Saturday lunchtime kick off live on BT Sport 1 this year, always proves to be a big game and arguably there’s no bigger game than the Liverpool – Manchester United Derby. Liverpool came into the game with the news that Milner and Firmino were passed fit enough to appear on the bench, replacing Rossiter who had joined Bristol City on loan during the week and Jose Enrique. Christian Benteke was also absent with an imminent move to Germany with Bayern Munich on loan until the end of the season. Klopp tinkered with his front four with Ings making way for Firmino with Beradi and Coutinho on the wings and Origi playing as the number 10 a role that he’s flourished in when moving inside in recent matches. Liverpool began horrifically with Depay and Herrera combing within 90 seconds, Depay’s initial shot was cleared but Herrera found space in the crowded box to prod home an early goal with the away fans breaking into that song about Gerrard. Minutes later Origi played Coutinho through but De Gea denied the Brazilian. The rest of the first half was a midfield battle with Origi, Lucas, Herrera and Martial all picking up yellow cards for persistent fouling.
In the 62nd minute reminiscent of Gerrard’s tackle on Herrera the previous season, Firmino was shown a red card for a dangerous two footed tackle on Michael Carrick. One nil down and down to ten men, it looked like another defeat for Klopp’s team. Klopp however had other ideas and pushed Origi upfront with Beradi and Coutinho playing narrower to make a 4-4-1 in a box formation with Topal replacing Lucas and Emre Can moving further forward with Toure coming on for Joe Allen to fit into the back line. With a more direct target man, Liverpool bombarded the United box with Origi finally connecting to a Clyne cross which soared into the top corner to give the reds the equaliser. United looked shell shocked and Luke Shaw showed his inexperience by fouling Emre Can in the air after a Coutinho free kick was played into the box, three minutes of normal time left and Liverpool had a penalty and a chance to take bragging rights over the North West. Dominic Beradi, who had a very quiet and ineffective game, stepped up to take the penalty sending it into the bottom left corner, cue pandemonium with 40,000 plus fans rising to their feet and applauding their new born star. Social media exploded with many calling Beradi a gift from god, “The Messiah”, “The Prophet”. Michael Owen hailed him as a new Liverpool legend and suggested he could reach the heights of Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres. A two one win over the old enemy and doing it from behind sent out a real message to the rest of the league. An FA investigation extended the Firmino ban for a further two matches which then failed an appeal.
The final game of the month saw Liverpool travel to the West Midlands and face Aston Villa. Buoyed by their comeback the previous week Klopp made one change with Topal replacing Lucas in midfield. Beradi and Origi both looked sharp in the opening ten minutes with Origi hitting the bar with a thunderous header, whilst Beradi was a menace to Alan Hutton all game. Hutton was at fault for the first Liverpool goal, a sloppy piece of defending allowed Beradi to slip past the Scottish international and bend a shot into the top corner passed a helpless Guzan. Ten minutes later and Origi picked up the ball on the edge of the box, laying it off to Beradi who’s curling cross found an unmarked Coutinho, the Brazilian made no mistake and tapped into an empty net. Villa quickly retreated and moved to playing more on the counter, Jordan Ayew had their closest chance after breaking the Liverpool high line but hit a tame shot towards Timo Horn. On the 35th minute the game was put passed all doubt when Carles Gil fouled Topal on the edge of the Villa area, Coutinho stepped up and thumped the ball into the bottom left hand corner. From then on it turned into a training match with Liverpool focusing their attention on ball retention and dropped their tempo. Joe Allen came on in the 82nd minute and moments later found himself in the box with the goal at his mercy and delightfully prodded past an onrushing Guzan, staking his claim for more first team action under Klopp. Albright a late goal from Rudy Gestede, Liverpool finished an impressive month with a upbeat display and a 4-1 win away that left them 4th in the league and one point behind leaders Arsenal, Tottenham and Southampton.
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Elsewhere, Liverpool drew Swansea City at home in the Capital One Cup to be played next month and were given £1.7 Million for reaching the UEFA Europa League Group Stages. The Reds have been drawn in Group D alongside Villareal, St Etienne and Malmo. Internally Joe Allen and Dominic Beradi won the Standard Chartered Player and Young Player of the Month awards, Tom Werner also released a further £32.5 Million to the transfer budget and pledged to upgrade the training facilities by the winter of 2016.
