Ekitike shines but champions well below par
- Published
Arne Slot wasted no time in integrating his expensive summer acquisitions as he gave first Premier League starts to the quartet of Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez - against his former club - Florian Wirtz and Ekitike.
Frenchman Ekitike was far and away the pick of the bunch with a vibrant performance as scorer and creator, deservedly receiving a standing ovation when he was substituted after 71 minutes.
Wirtz was quiet in the number 10 role behind Ekitike ,in what was a disjointed Liverpool display lacking so much of the calm and cohesion that was the trademark of Slot's first season in charge - which led to Liverpool strolling to the title.
And, as in the Community Shield defeat by Crystal Palace, there was a vulnerability running through this Liverpool side that will need work and almost resulted in them squandering a win that was theirs for the taking for the first hour.
It needed a typical late surge in front of The Kop to claim the three points in the face of a Bournemouth response which exposed Liverpool's defence far too often - especially down the flanks and through midfield, where the stabilising influence of the suspended Ryan Gravenberch was sorely missed.
Liverpool, however, gathered themselves as champions do, with Federico Chiesa finally making his mark after life in the shadows at Anfield to put them back in front, Mohamed Salah inevitably rounding things off.
It is only to be expected that the arrival of so many new faces, no matter how gifted, will lead to instability and this has been in evidence, leaving Slot with work to do to put all his many new pieces into place.
Liverpool were delighted with the three points, with Anfield celebrating accordingly, but this was a real scare as the champions were far from their best.
Did you know?
Hugo Ekitike became only the second player to both score and assist a goal on his Premier League debut for Liverpool, after Darwin Núñez against Fulham in August 2022. Indeed, Ekitike was the first Frenchman to score and assist on his debut in the competition, while the last player of any nationality to do so was Núñez in August 2022.
Cody Gakpo has scored 17 goals in his last 18 starts at Anfield for Liverpool in all competitions, scoring at least once in 11 of his last 12 games as a starter at the ground.