You'll Never Walk Alone

The 2025-26 season of the EPL started today 15th of August with a thriller of six goals, duly fitting in for an emotional opening of the league by last year's Champion at Anfield.

Liverpool started their campaign with the Community Shield, having lost on penalties at Wembley, but today at home, the atmosphere was charged with emotions pouring out for Diogo Jota, who, along with his brother, left this world after the horrific car crash. The entire stadium had banners and posters honoring and remembering the number 20 genius who was always there to bail out his team, be it Liverpool or his Country, Portugal. The Anfield and the Liverpool fans showed the world the power of remembrance, the love of the supporters, and the respect for the departed soul in front of his wife and small kids, who were witnesses to these amazing scenes before, during, and after the game.

Bournemouth is a tough team that had won their last league match against the Champions by 4-2, and this was definitely hounding the home team.

Liverpool saw an exodus of stars from its team at the beginning of the season, with Trent Alexander, Luiz Dias, and Nunez leaving for other clubs. Liverpool had to fill in the spots with some extraordinary talents, and at a huge price. Slot fielded four of them today in this very important game. Florian, Kerkez, Ekitike, and Frimpong filled in the boots of the players who left Liverpool or were not playing today in the first XI. The preseason games never had all the players playing together, and suddenly, when the team plays with four newcomers, and most importantly, with two side backs, Frimpong & Kerkez, trying to gel with the team. Both are talented and also have earned a big name in their domain, but to set with the team and also thwart the counterattacks of the opponents, when from the flank, they are trying to boost the forward line. In addition, Konate also couldn't retrieve fast and missed the pace of their forwards, mainly Semenyo, the only goals scored for Bournemouth.

Amongst the new players, Florian Wirtz gave glimpses of his attacking talents and also running, which will give the team a boost. Ekitike the young sensation, displayed his positioning and attacking skills, capitalizing on the assists and also his run to get past the defenders. Both Frimpong and Kerkez definitely are the good replacements but needs some time.

Ekitike scored the first goal through a good team effort in the 37th minute, his first goal in the EPL, followed by a solo effort from Gapko. in the 49th minute.

Ekitike dedicated the goal to Diogo Jota, the number 20, and similarly, Gapko also did the same celebrations after scoring his goal.

Later, with the defense lapses and also unable to match the counterattack and speed of the opponent forwards, Bournemouth equalised in quick succession, giving the local fans and Liverpool team a nightmare in the 64th and 76th minutes. Slot made two changes, bringing Endo and Anderson, and then Gomez & Jones.

In between the game was stopped for a few minutes when there was an alleged complaint by the Bournemouth star Semenyo, who faced the racist attack in the ground. Immediately, the police were in action, and the person was removed from the ground.

Bournemouth were defending well and not giving any chance to Liverpool to score and win the game. The same team had defeated Liverpool last year, and thus, the pressure was on for the home team to win their first game.

The game was in its last stages, and the anxiety to score a goal was visible in both Slot and the players. When a tactical change was made, though late, and Chiesa was brought in at the 82nd minute, he did rescue the team, scoring the goal to take the lead at the 88th minute. It was like 'Jota' coming in as a substitute and saving the team, but all credit to Chiesa, who kept his cool, reached for the ball, and finished it in the far corner of the net.

In post-match discussions, Slot said," Normally, when it is 2-2, you know which player I would have been looking for, and it is Diogo Jota...But I couldn’t bring him on for terrible reasons.”

Later, Mo Salah, with a solo run, grabbed the ball from the defender on a counterattack, dribbled past two defenders, and using his right leg and scored the fourth goal for the team in the 94th minute of the game.

Even with 62% possession, the defense was unconvincing, and unless the gaps are plugged, it will be difficult for Liverpool to maintain their winning streak in the coming big games. Both of the Semenyo's goals saw Liverpool caught out on their transition, and the second goal found all off guard, with Semenyo running nearly the length of the ground and scoring this 2nd goal, a unique effort indeed at the cost of defense lapses.

Once the match was over, the Liverpool fans continued their love for Diogo, and the entire stadium was singing for him. Mo Salah joined and was visibly emotional while paying his tributes at Anfield.

On 16th August, on the match day between Manchester City and Wolves, the supporters of Wolves displayed their strong emotions while paying respect to Diogo Jota the number 18 who played in their club in his earlier days.