CNN
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Liverpool equaled the Premier League record for biggest win on Saturday, beating Bournemouth 9-0 at Anfield.
After starting the season with two draws and a loss, Liverpool started fast against newly promoted Bournemouth, with Luis Díaz and Harvey Elliott both scoring within six minutes.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s incredible long-range strike made it three in half an hour, before goals from Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk meant Liverpool led by five at half-time.
After the break, an own goal from Chris Mepham, Firmino’s second, Fabio Carvalho’s first Liverpool goal and Díaz’s second of the game capped a goal-packed afternoon for the hosts.
The record winning margin of nine goals had been achieved three times before – twice by Manchester United and once by Leicester City – and is helping kick off Liverpool’s stuttering opener for the new season.
For Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, he called it “the perfect afternoon of football” after a few weeks of poor results, saying the big win was “necessary”.
“We weren’t happy with the way we played; we had good moments in almost every game,” Klopp said. “We showed things we are strong on and other things we need to improve on and that’s what we had to do today, but you can’t make a list and take them off the stage list. by step.
“You just have to give the game a good direction and that’s why I liked the start of today so much. We didn’t hesitate, we didn’t hold anything back, we just entered the game at bottom, put them under pressure, had the fights in the right areas of the box, around the box, body in the box, second ball situations, start over, and that sort of thing.
After two trophies last season and so close to two more, hopes are high for Liverpool this season.
And those flames were only fanned in the season-opening Community Shield against Manchester City, as Liverpool comfortably beat the reigning Premier League champions.
However, when the season finally kicked off, the results were stuttering.
It started with a draw against newly-promoted Fulham before having to settle for a home draw with Crystal Palace – new star signing Darwin Nunez was also sent off on his home debut for a header on Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen.
And things went from bad to worse with a stunning 2-1 loss to Manchester United in their third game, their bitter rivals entering the game after a terrible start to the season.
Just when trouble seemed to be piling up, Liverpool responded emphatically.
Brazilian international Firmino was instrumental all afternoon, with two goals and three assists. Klopp said the 30-year-old had a ‘massive game’ against Bournemouth.
Liverpool achieved a first for their club in the first half by scoring five goals in the opening 45 minutes, the first time this had happened in a Premier League game for the Reds.
By reaching the winning margin of nine goals, Liverpool equaled the record set by Manchester United against Ipswich in 1995 and Southampton last year, and by Leicester against Southampton in 2019.
According to Opta, he also equaled Liverpool’s biggest margin of victory in their league history, equaling the record set against Crystal Palace in 1989 and Rotherham Town in 1896.
After a disappointing result against Manchester United last time out, Klopp expressed his delight at his side’s ability to bounce back strongly against Bournemouth.
“That game was us, a bit more us. We should have won that game, so when I don’t say that about all the games against United… we lost to them in different circumstances,” he said. he declared.
Klopp continued: “But it’s not out of this world that we lose at United 2-1, especially when we’re not playing at our highest level, it can happen and it’s very likely to happen. For today I wanted the start that we showed and then the rest… we can’t guarantee results but what we expect from ourselves is that we give guarantees on performance levels and today we started.
