Liverpool respond with victory against Bournemouth

LONDON – New to the English Premier League, Arne Slot understands that his Liverpool team must prioritize winning or quickly rebounding from any setbacks.

Following last weekend’s shock 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest, the Reds beat AC Milan 3-1 in the Champions League in midweek. They continued the momentum when they hosted Bournemouth at Anfield on Sept 21, taking less than 40 minutes for the game to be all but decided in their 3-0 win.

Luis Diaz was the star of the show in the opening minutes, breaking the deadlock in the 26th minute when the forward rounded goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga before firing the ball into an empty net.

It did not take long for the Colombian to score his second, as just two minutes later he received a clever pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold and composed himself to make it 2-0.

With his assist, Alexander-Arnold has now been directly involved in 100 goals as a Liverpool player (19 goals, 81 assists) – according to Opta statistics.

Striker Darwin Nunez then made it three for Liverpool in the 37th minute with an impressive goal. The Uruguayan played a one-two with Mohamed Salah, before curling a delightful strike past the diving Kepa.

With a three-goal margin, Slot’s men came out of the break more controlled but still had the intention to score more.

By the 66th minute, Liverpool were comfortable keeping the ball, passing it around and building up attacks, backed by the cheers from their home crowd.

Nunez was denied a second of the afternoon by centre-back Dean Huijsen, who blocked on the line, albeit unknowingly. Slot then replaced Nunez with new signing Federico Chiesa.

In the end, 3-0 was enough for the Reds to seal three vital points.

Liverpool have now won four of five games to keep up the pressure on champions Manchester City, who have won a perfect four matches and host Arsenal in their big clash on Sept 22.

In another match, Tottenham Hotspur were stunned in the first minute when Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring for Brentford at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The forward smashed the ball into the back of the net from a volley, making it the second straight Premier League game that the Bees have scored in the opening minute.

Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs side then equalised through Dominic Solanke seven minutes later – the striker scoring his first goal for the club when he tapped in from a rebound.

Brennan Johnson made it 2-1 in the 28th minute when his left-footed strike gave Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken no chance. Flekken was beaten again in the 85th minute from a brilliant chip by James Maddison as Spurs won 3-1.

The victory eased some pressure on Postecoglou, who came into the game on the back of two league losses to Newcastle United and north London rivals Arsenal.