Liverpool kicked off their Premier League season with a fine win at home against Norwich City, 4-1. The Reds were rampant for 60 minutes but did let off for the final 30 minutes, allowing Norwich City’s Teemu Pukki to get a consolation goal.
Divock Origi opened the scoring with a hard cross into the penalty area that was mis-hit by Norwich City defender Grant Hanley. The defender’s skewed clearance found its way into the goal.
Mohamed Salah opened his account for the season with a lovely left-footed goal, which came from a brilliant slip pass from Roberto Firmino, gave the Reds a 2-0 lead. Despite Liverpool’s pressure and score lead, the Canaries didn’t go away and continued to apply pressure.
Virgil van Dijk added a third goal with a thumping header from a corner. His goal was followed by an Origi strike as the Reds were up 4-0 on 42 minutes.
Despite the led, Liverpool suffered a major setback as Alisson Becker went down with a calf injury. It didn’t look good with many speculating that he had suffered an Achilles or knee injury. Luckily, Alisson walked off on his own power.
Alisson reportedly left Anfield in a wheelchair. He will now miss the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea on Wednesday night. Alisson spent the summer at the Copa America and had very little recovery time following the tournament. His lack of recovery time and constant playing could have contributed to the injury.
Adrian came on for Alisson but struggled with his distribution once on the pitch. He will start on Wednesday night in the UEFA Super Cup.
The final 30 minutes saw Norwich City find a goal through Pukki. He slipped in between Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold to receive a pass and strike an angled shot past Adrian.
Pukki beat Liverpool’s offside trap to get into a good scoring position. To Norwich City’s credit, they never gave up the match and challenged the Reds to the end. By the time they got their first goal, however, the match was beyond them.
Liverpool now turn their attention to Wednesday night’s UEFA Super Cup in Istanbul. The big question is, how will Liverpool cope without Alisson?
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