An opening match that looked a lot like the one from last season for Liverpool, coming away with a 2-1 win over Southampton thanks to a late winner from Daniel Sturridge. Raheem Sterling scored first but Nathaniel Clyne made things very interesting with a second half equalizer.
The man who is probably still holding his head after this match is Morgan Schneiderlin, who had a chance to tie the match again in the final ten minutes but sent a rocket of a shot to the crossbar, bouncing away from the goal instead of into it. Southampton were the better team for the first 25 minutes of the second half, until Brendan Rodgers realized he has to make some changes.
Liverpool looked organized and quite persistent early on, and eventually got the goal they deserved after a brilliant through ball from Jordan Henderson to Raheem Sterling. There’s nothing surprising about the teenage England international, who provided a quality finish while the Southampton defense were chasing him in vain. Liverpool settled down after that goal and not for the better, playing a bit too calmly and slowly instead of trying to increase their lead.
Southampton, mostly through Dusan Tadic and James Ward-Prowse in a brilliant match from the duo, took control of the midfield in the second half, showing and exposing just what a big problem Liverpool have if Lucas will continue to be an integral part of their defensive midfield, and the same goes for Martin Skrtel who has too many ups and downs in his match through the 90 minutes.
Nathaniel Clyne scored a brilliant equalizer after Tadic set him up with a cheeky pass, but Clyne made the defensive error 23 minutes later, as he allowed Daniel Sturridge to find himself quite open in the middle of the box to give the looping ball a slight nudge, giving Liverpool the lead again with 11 minutes to go, this time not relinquishing it.
Brendan Rodgers knows it’s difficult finding someone to replace Luis Suarez. Rickie Lambert isn’t that man, but for now, he’s enough, as Sturridge needs someone next to him to serve as another target. Philippe Coutinho was very disappointing, not involved enough in the crucial touches, and Raheem Sterling, like Skrtel, has too many ups and downs, although overall he was probably the best player for Liverpool on the day.
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