In the end, Liverpool likely deserved their 4-2 victory in the first game of the 2025-26 Premier League season, but it was a circuitous route to get there with a strong start to the match and a 2-0 lead—with new signing Hugo Ekitike the headliner—and a strong finish that saw Federico Chiesa the surprise man to salvage all three points sandwiching a defensively dysfunctional middle that almost saw them give the game away.
Add in the emotion of honouring Diogo Jota to start the match as well as a fan
being ejected for racially abusing Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo and there’s a lot of ground to cover—and not all of it pleasant. So. Let’s get started.
Oh, His Name Is Diogo
A new Premier League season. Kicking off under the lights at Anfield. The defending champions. And also a side and fanbase with someone to remember, making for a rather emotional start as the fans boomed out Diogo Jota’s song loud enough to be clearly heard from the tunnels as the teams prepared to walk out and then segued straight into You’ll Never Walk Alone and a tribute to the deceased Liverpool striker and his brother, André Silva. Forever Liverpool’s number 20. Oh, his name is Diogo.
Winners and Losers
Hugo Ekitike
After impressing in pre-season, Hugo Ekitike’s flicks and pressing had him looking like Liverpool’s best player early, and in the 37th minute he got the goal his play deserved to put the Reds up 1-0. His touches and the way he positions himself remind of Roberto Firmino—and so does his hair, if you squint. Except he’s also very tall and a little bit gangly in almost a Peter Crouch sort of way. It doesn’t make sense, entirely, but goodness is he fun to watch, and he already looks the striker Liverpool and manager Arne Slot needed.
To put an exclamation mark on matters, he set up Cody Gakpo for Liverpool’s second. None of Liverpool’s other new signings looked anything like as comfortable with the frantic pace of the game, and certainly none looked as effective. Ekitike looked like he’s been playing for Liverpool for years. The perfect debut performance.
Federico Chiesa
New signing Ekitike might have been the headliner early for Liverpool, but it was a couple of established players making headlines late. That’s assuming we can call Chiesa established. It was Mohamed Salah putting a bow on things late, Mo scoring in the opener is hardly news.
Chiesa bailing out the Reds, though? With Liverpool’s attacking depth chart looking mighty thin following a slew of sales and Jota’s tragic death, it was last season’s forgotten man getting the surprise call to come off the bench. And then it was last season’s forgotten man getting Liverpool’s winning goal. Queue another rendition or five of Chiesa’s song, obviously. Now we’ll have to wait and see if, just maybe, it’s the moment that revives (belatedly kicks off?) his Liverpool career.
Long Sleeves
A bunch of Liverpool players were wearing long sleeves. I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen long sleeves since the last time we were in Adidas. This development is very exciting to me, personally.
English Officiating
In the losers category, we kick off the season in the most predictable of ways: with a VAR controversy inside 15 minutes. Bournemouth centre half Marcos Senesi saw the ball bounce awkwardly off his knee with two Liverpool players charging forward. He was the last man back. The ball was sailing away from him and into the path of Ekitike, who would have been clear on goal with support to his right. In reaction, Senesi’s instinct was to swat out at the ball with his hand—and he made contact, pushing it out of Ekitike’s path.
Despite being a clear and intentional handball to stop Liverpool’s break, referee Anthony Taylor ignored it. In real time that was maybe forgivable. The touch, while massively impactful and clearly intentional, was glancing and committed in the midst of a frantic break upfield with Taylor sprinting to keep up with play. As is often the case when referring goes wrong in England, the real problem is that the video assistant somehow, and quite preposterously, didn’t judge it a significant enough error to send Taylor to the monitor for a closer look.
Good job, lads. Good process.
Defensive Structure
For anyone who watched pre-season, Liverpool’s defensive structure was a worrying theme. Game one of the Premier League season didn’t look like they’d solved that problem. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté both made a handful of nervous early touches that on another night could have ended in goals against while Milos Kerkez’ tendency to dive into a tackle at any and every opportunity was eyebrow-raising and eventually led to a yellow card.
To single out the defenders, though, is to overlook the role of the team in defending—something Bournemouth’s first goal hammered home. On that occasion, a sloppy turnover by Dominik Szoboszali in midfield just after the hour mark and with most of his teammates pushed forward ahead of him gave The Cherries an even-man break from midfield. Rushing forward at pace after being given a gift, there was little Liverpool’s defenders would be able to do if their opponents executed. Their opponents executed and just like that a comfortable 2-0 lead became a nervous 2-1. Then it became 2-2 on a four-on-two Bournemouth break.
So. About those pre-season concerns…
Giving Credit to the Opposition
To the confusion of everyone watching, the match was paused around the half hour mark with the officials huddling with Bournemouth staff near the benches and players taking an unexpected water break. Soon after, we learned Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo had been racially abused by a fan while taking a throw. In the second half we got the update the fan had been identified and removed. This is one loser it felt needed his antics split off into its own section, and it’s rightly expected he won’t be getting back into Anfield any time soon.
In the meantime, Semenyo had scored his first goal of the night. Then, he scored his second. As far as reactions to being wronged go, it was one hell of a statement. There are times you’ve just gotta stand up and say, you know what? That’s totally fair. We deserved that. Couldn’t have complained if it’d his goals had ended up costing the Reds points, which for a time they looked to have.
What Happens Next
Liverpool don’t play again until Monday the 25th, when they take on Newcastle. It’s a break that will hopefully give Arne Slot and the coaching staff time to make a dent in that whole defensive structure thing as well as for sporting director Richard Hughes and the recruitment team to hopefully plug the remaining holes on the depth chart as the transfer window heads into its final stretch.
