MANCHESTER, United Kingdom —
Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge got
off to a sluggish start as the Reds were held 2–2 at newly-promoted Fulham,
while Tottenham delivered on their pre-season hype by thrashing Southampton 4–1
on Saturday.
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Jurgen Klopp
admitted the best part of Liverpool’s day was the result as the Champions
League finalists twice had to come from behind at Craven Cottage.
Aleksandar Mitrovic
maintained his stunning form from last season in the Championship as the Serb
outmuscled Trent Alexander-Arnold to head Fulham into a deserved half-time
lead.
The introduction of
Darwin Nunez in the second half brought Liverpool to life and the Uruguayan
flicked home his first Premier League goal since a 75-million-euro ($77
million) move from Benfica to level.
Mitrovic restored
Fulham’s lead from the penalty spot after he was tripped by Virgil van Dijk
inside the area.
But Mohamed Salah
ensured Liverpool at least did not start the season with a defeat by slotting
into an empty net from Nunez’s pass.
“We started
actually exactly the opposite way that we wanted,” said Klopp.
“We are used to
more dominance and we never could get that because we just played not good
enough, not quick enough, not precise enough.”
Tottenham’s title
dream
By contrast, Tottenham had a dream start to the campaign to raise hopes
they could compete for a first league title in 61 years.
Spurs also fell
behind to James Ward-Prowse’s strike from the edge of the box after just 12
minutes, but the response from
Antonio Conte’s men was emphatic.
The goals to turn
the game around before half-time came from unlikely sources as Ryan Sessegnon
and Eric Dier headed home.
Mohammed Salisu
then passed the ball into his own net for a comical own goal on the hour mark.
Dejan Kulusevski
rounded off the scoring with a cool and precise finish into the far corner to
take Spurs above Arsenal at the top of the table.
Newcastle may not
have delivered the big-name signings many expected in the transfer market, but
the Magpies did the business on the pitch to spoil Nottingham Forest’s return
to the English top flight with a 2–0 win.
Forest have even
outspent Newcastle in the window on 12 new signings so far, but were given a
lesson in the step up in quality to the Premier League at St James’ Park.
Fabian Schar’s
sensational strike opened the scoring before Callum Wilson’s predatory finish
sealed the three points.
Bournemouth were
also 2–0 winners over Aston Villa, dispelling their pre-season gloom after a
lack of transfer activity.
Jefferson Lerma got
the Cherries off to a great start after just three minutes and Kieffer Moore
added a second 10 minutes from time.
Leeds shrugged off
the loss of
Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha over the summer as they beat Wolves
2–1 at Elland Road.
Daniel Podence had
fired Wolves into an early lead, but Jesse Marsch’s men fought back
impressively.
Rodrigo blasted in
from a narrow-angle to level before Rayan Ait-Nouri’s own goal decided the game
16 minutes from time.
Chelsea begin their campaign later on Saturday away to
Everton.
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