We react to Liverpool’s Premier League victory over Leicester City and give you a chance to vote for Man of the Match.

Liverpool 2 – 0 Leicester City

Reds: Jota 34’, 87’

Pre-Match

Premier League football is back after what feels like FOR-EV-ER. And it’s an exciting lineup! Thiago is back in the middle of the park, newboy Luis Diaz gets the start, and Mohamed Salah—who must still be fuming after losing the AFCON Final—will be very angry whenever he makes the pitch tonight. You won’t like Mo when he’s angry, but we love him.

First Half

Diaz nearly gets in straight away, but just can’t quite sort his feet in order to get a shot away after a brilliant pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold. Throughout the opening stages of the match, Diaz looks like the biggest threat on the pitch. Looks like the transfer team might have pulled off another coup with this Diaz lad.

GOAL! Jota breaks the deadlock! Virgil van Dijk gets a free header off a corner, and Schmeichel does well to save the initial effort, but Jota is there to blast the rebound into the back of the net!

The rest of the half is fairly uneventful, although Liverpool are definitely well on top. The hosts had a couple of half chances to increase the lead, but the moves didn’t quite come off. It’s an impressive performance considering the new signing and Jota playing out of position.

Second Half

Liverpool have kept up steady attacking pressure in the opening 15 minutes of the half, but have lacked the real cutting edge to open Leicester up. Klopp responds by brining on Mo Salah and Harvey Elliott, which should do the trick. The entire ground signs Mo’s song. Egyptian King. Is right. Curtis Jones and Roberto Firmino make way.

This match is strange, in that not much happens for vast swaths of it, and then suddenly, without warning or build up, someone—usually a Liverpool player—is in. In this instance, it was Salah who did brilliantly to drop a shoulder and beat a defender, getting 1 on 1 with the keeper, but couldn’t beat Schmeichel. He then gets absolutely clattered by the defender in a nasty challenge from behind, but that’s “OK” because he got the shot away. A few moments later Mo clangs one off the crossbar. Unlucky, Mo.

GOAL!! It’s Jota again! And with a rare assist from Joel Matip! Despite the calls from the Kop to shoot from the edge of the area, Matip smartly picks out Jota who turns and fires. Schmeichel gets a palm to it, but it’s not enough to keep it from its rightful destination.

Final Thoughts and Man of the Match

Liverpool got the job done in the end. Despite being 1-0 for most of the match, Leicester City never really put the hosts under much pressure. It was as comfortable as it could be for a relatively tight match, with Liverpool seemingly under control of proceedings in a way that they mostly haven’t been this season. Anyway, 3 points and on to the next match.