Let’s look back at the remarkable highlights surrounding Liverpool’s first victory of the new season.

The value of blockbusters

Despite having only spent two official matches under a Liverpool shirt, Dominik Szoboszlai has partly shown that The Kop is completely right when deciding to spend £ 60 million to bring himself to Anfield in the summer transfer window. Similar to the match against Chelsea, the Hungarian star continued to be a bright spot in Liverpool’s midfield against Bournemouth, striking with a truly comprehensive performance in the midfield.

Clearly, Szoboszlai was often at the center of every  Liverpool attack , making a strong impression with his calm passes, fluid dribbles and a series of classy handling situations. Not only combining well with the strikers on the attack, on the defensive front, the 22-year-old star also left a clear mark with many situations to retreat to the lower line to prevent Bournemouth from attacking.

Blame Mac Allister

The Argentine midfielder has just received the first direct red card of his career,  and this is clearly a decision too heavy-handed from the referee. If you look back at the slow-motion situation, Mac Allister’s tackle was not malicious at all, and he didn’t even have too much contact with Ryan Christie.

However, the VAR team still upheld the referee’s decision, and this decision immediately caused a strong wave of controversy on social networks. Even coach Andoni Iraola admitted after the game that Mac Allister’s foul didn’t look like a red card situation.

 Mac Allister’s cruel red card. 

Impressive Wataru Endo

Not long after arriving at Anfield, Endo was given the opportunity by coach Jurgen Klopp to make his Liverpool debut in an official match. Entering the field in the 63rd minute, the Japanese midfielder had a relatively positive performance, especially when Endo had only signed for The Kop 24 hours earlier.

Perhaps, Endo was given the opportunity to play earlier than expected by Mac Allister’s red card, but he did not appear too surprised in his first match. The former Stuttgart star had very few chances to lose the ball against Bournemouth, having a total of 26 touches and a passing accuracy rate of around 88% – including four in the bottom third of the field.

With Mac Allister absent due to suspension, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Endo joins Liverpool’s starting XI next week.

 Endo soon has a chance to debut.

Get compensation

Individual mistakes and a lack of focus from the Liverpool defense allowed Bournemouth to take the lead after just a few minutes. Both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk were responsible for this goal, while Andy Robertson also lost points with an ineffective tackle.

Minutes after the situation, Alisson lost the ball again after a careless pass, and was forced to pay with a yellow card after stopping the opponent. However, fortunately for Liverpool when their attack had a booming day and “corrected” the teammates in defence. 

 Liverpool’s defense lacks certainty. 

Wrong decision? 

Bournemouth really made a big surprise in the summer transfer window when it decided to sack coach Gary O’Neil, before appointing coach Andoni Iraola as his successor. However, it seems that this is not necessarily a wise decision of this team.

After the opening 2 matches, Bournemouth has only won 1 point, and obviously it is difficult to blame Iraola when they have to constantly face tough opponents. However, if you look at the performance on the pitch, the current Bournemouth is no different from last season.