A fantastic performance is worth mentioning, even if it’s only the preseason, as Liverpool beat a lacking Dortmund side 4-0 in Anfield. Philippe Coutinho was close to perfection with a goal and assist, helped out by Dejan Lovren scoring his first goal for the club, Daniel Sturridge with the opener and another from Jordan Henderson.
Dortmund played without Marco Reus and Mats Hummels, but did feature Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang and others who did make it seem like their second best lineup, and yet not exactly a team that should be humiliated by a fellow Champions League club.
Players like Ciro Immobile, Sven Bender and Kevin Grosskreutz also made an appearance in the second half, but this game was one sided and headed in one direction from the first moment.
The best goal of the match came in the 10th minute, as Daniel Sturridge enjoyed a brilliant flick from Phlippe Coutinho midair from the middle of the pitch to free him up and score the opening goal of the match. Four minutes later it was Steven Gerrard with a corner, Dejan Lovren with the header and Liverpool had a two goal lead before some fans were even seated.
After Lucas Leiva came on for Emre Can in the second half, it was Philippe Coutinho’s turn to score. Raheem Sterling caused problems whenver he moved to one of the wings, dragging defenders along with him. In the 49th minute he was covered by three players, which allowed Coutinho space and time to run in the box and collect the accurate pass and make it 3-0 for the home side.
Daniel Sturridge wanted an assist as well and some clever dribbling and timing from him inside the box found a wide open Jordan Henderson to make it a four goal win in the 61st minute before Liverpool began a long list of substitutions to finish the game with an excellent feeling going into the new season, although it’s clear this squad needs more before they can talk about mounting a title challenge. Dortmund, even with a missing lineup, still don’t look like a cohesive unit amid all of the experiments by Jurgen Klopp.