
Andy Hunter was at Anfield. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Slot is then asked about the football … and the answer becomes another pitch-perfect tribute to Diogo Jota. “It was a great game to watch … this is what makes football great … three parties involved that wanted to play a very nice game, us, Bournemouth and the referee … high-tempo … no time-wasting … no diving … just keep on playing … this is what makes football so nice … going two up, 2-2, they just kept on going after 2-0 down, a big compliment to them not to give up … keep on fighting … then we did the same after we conceded the 2-2 … our fans at that moment, and before the game, through You’ll Never Walk Alone and the tribute for Diogo, the banner they had … all together it should be about that … we’ve lost many players during the summer, but we didn’t lose our mentality … everyone is asking me the same question, you have a lot of new players … yeah, the reality is we’ve lost a lot of players as well, more than we got … but it’s normal if you bring such talented players in and you won the League last season … normally when it was 2-2, you know which player I would have looked at, at that moment in time … I would have loved to bring Diogo Jota in … but now I couldn’t for terrible reasons … but now the fans and players who are still there did what he did for us so many times in the past.”
Arne Slot talks to Sky Sports, first about the racial abuse directed at Antoine Semenyo. “The club made a clear statement … we don’t want this in football … we don’t want this in the stadium to happen … but especially not at Anfield … so we should talk about that for a long time, because it’s unacceptable that should happen in a stadium, let alone at Anfield … and that unfortunately gets the shine off … because our fans were unbelievable when you talk about their tribute for Diogo … but what happened over there is definitely … I didn’t hear it, I only can say that this should definitely not happen in a stadium.”
Liverpool have issued a statement on the Semenyo incident. “Liverpool Football Club is aware of an allegation of racist abuse made during our Premier League game against AFC Bournemouth.
“We condemn racism and discrimination in all forms, it has no place in society or football.
“The club is unable to comment further as tonight’s alleged incident is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, which we will support fully.”
Andoni Iraola speaks to Sky. “Antoine and the referee explained the situation … to be fair, the person has been identified … it’s a shame because after a really great game of football we have to be talking about these things today … we should have been past this stage but there are still people who don’t behave correctly … it’s a shame … Antoine did what he had to do … I don’t think he lost his mind … it’s a big shame … the Liverpool manager and players feel it … even if it’s a Liverpool supporter, for sure they don’t want him with them … [Semenyo] was in the heat of the game, you continue playing and focus on what you have to do … he continued playing very well … now we have to go to talk to the police and officials … now he will have it in his head for sure and it shouldn’t be like this.”
The Premier League have issued a statement regarding the Semenyo incident. “Tonight’s match between Liverpool Football Club and AFC Bournemouth was temporarily paused during the first half after a report of discriminatory abuse from the crowd, directed at Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo.
“This is in line with the Premier League’s on-field anti-discrimination protocol.
“The incident at Anfield will now be fully investigated. We offer our full support to the player and both clubs.
“Racism has no place in our game, or anywhere in society. We will continue to work with stakeholders and authorities to ensure our stadiums are an inclusive and welcoming environment for all.”
Bournemouth captain Adam Smith speaks to Sky about the racial abuse suffered by Antoine Semenyo. “It’s totally unacceptable … I’m kind of in shock that it happens in this day and age … it shouldn’t be happening … I don’t know how Ants played on and come up with the goals … he’s a little bit down … to carry on playing … something has to be done … taking a knee is having no effect … we’ll support him in there … hopefully he’ll be OK … to be honest I wanted him to react [after scoring his goals] because that’s what I would have done … I would have gone straight over there … but that shows what type of man he is … to not even react when it happened, to carry on … fair play to Ants … I was angry … shocked … to be fair the Liverpool players were very supportive towards Antoine and the rest of the team … I think it was handled in the right way … but yeah, I’m so angry … I don’t know what else we can do … I just don’t know what to say any more … I just feel sorry for Ant in there, that he’s had to take that tonight, and the whole country’s watching … for that to happen is shocking.”
Player of the match Hugo Ekitike talks to Sky. “It was a good performance … I could do better … the most important thing was the win … we needed to win for the people who came tonight and for Diogo … and that’s what we did so I am happy for everybody … I have so many things to do better … I can do a lot of things and I think I will get better to do even more for this team … there is so much more space in Germany … we have to find the way to succeed … I always dreamed to play in the Premier League so I enjoy every minute here … the fans at the end, when it was 2-2, they pushed so much even on the bench I enjoyed, I wanted to be in the crowd! … we have so much to do to get better and reach our goals … [upon being given his award] it’s great, I want more.”
A word on Federico Chiesa’s celebration. He gave the Liver Bird a good old slap with his palm upon scoring. A suggestion that he’d quite like to stay at the club a little longer, despite all those rumours linking him away? It was all soundtracked by a loud and long chorus from another of the Kop’s favourite songs.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah advances towards the Kop as its denizens trill Diogo Jota’s song. They applaud each other. It continues. Oh his name is Diogo. Salah’s eyes redden. His lip quivers. A couple of tears form. The poor guy’s trying not to sob. Not that he has to, but he just about manages to keep it all in. For now. The moment too much for him. The grieving star dries his eyes with his sleeve before turning and heading down the tunnel. When Diogo’s Song comes to its natural finish, the Kop segue into their Salah number. Yet another difficult, and yet so heartwarming, watch.
As the Liverpool players celebrate their win, Arne Slot heads straight for Antoine Semenyo. He offers a hand-clasp of friendship, and no doubt apology for one no-mark’s miserable actions, then a hand on the shoulder and a thumbs-up. Semenyo nods his acceptance, a touching moment between two gentlemen. That’s a welcome scene after a very unsavoury incident.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 4-2 Bournemouth
The whistle goes, Anfield erupts … in Diogo Jota’s song.
90 min +6: Chiesa and Salah are the heroes, but Jamie Carragher names Ekitike as man of the match.
GOAL! Liverpool 4-2 Bournemouth (Salah 90+4)
Salah has done less than nothing all evening … but now he seals the deal for Liverpool! He gets on the end of a long pass down the left, cuts into the box, makes enough space for the shot, and lashes a low shot into the bottom right. He turns to the Kop and performs Diogo Jota’s Baby Shark celebration … with some feeling. That’ll have stung the palms. What an outpouring of emotion. Doo-doo do doo-do doo!
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90 min +3: Chiesa combines with Salah to win a corner down the right. Liverpool play it short; now it’s their turn to work the clock.
90 min +2: Liverpool half-clear the corner, then Chiesa, the hero of the moment, wins a cheap free kick to release the pressure on the hosts.
90 min +1: The first of six additional minutes sees Bournemouth trade a corner from the right for another on the right. Anfield is bouncing, but also nervous. Bournemouth are pressing hard.
90 min: Bournemouth aren’t giving this up. Of course they’re not. Semenyo causes confusion down the right and wins a corner. Before it can be taken, Kroupi and Hill come on for Smith and Adams.
GOAL! Liverpool 3-2 Bournemouth (Chiesa 88)
Salah crosses from the right. Petrovic palms clear under pressure from Jones … but only into the road of Chiesa, who gently carves a delicious finish into the bottom-right corner from ten yards! His second touch. The Kop erupts!
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87 min: Salah tries to spin Truffert down the right and is cynically checked. Bournemouth’s new left-back is fortunate not to go into the book. The resulting free kick leads to a spot of head tennis in the Bournemouth box, but Petrovic was never in serious danger.
86 min: Van Dijk looks long for Jones. The pass is Kop-bound. Whisper it, but the champions are getting desperate.
84 min: Bournemouth replace Brooks with 20-year-old midfielder Ben Winterburn. They make the substitution slowly, with clock management very much in mind. They’ve earned the right.
82 min: Wirtz comes off, replaced by the lesser-spotted Chiesa. “Ok, yes, football is ‘just a game’,” begins Matt Dony. “But it’s not, is it? It’s more than that. It’s a huge part of our lives. It’s responsible for some of the most amazing days of my life. My son’s first trip to Anfield saw Jota score THAT last-minute winner against Spurs right in front of us. Football is a big, brilliant thing. And it makes so furious that fans can be so idiotic, so hateful, so wrong. Every club has tools in its fan base. Yours, mine, everyone’s. And it’s all of our jobs to call them out. Forget tribalism. Forget excuses. Get rid of them. It’s OUR game. Not theirs.”
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81 min: Evanilson is booked for hauling back an in-flight Szoboszlai.
80 min: Jones slides a left-to-right pass towards Szoboszlai on the right. Szoboszlai takes a touch and aims for the top left. The shot’s all wrong. Into the Kop it goes. Salah, on the penalty spot and screaming for a cushioned pass, is livid.
78 min: Anfield is comparatively silent. But not through shock. Bournemouth have come at them, and come at them real good. That equaliser was in the post.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-2 Bournemouth (Semenyo 76)
Salah advances down the right but his poor cutback evades the nearby Szoboszlai. Bournemouth break at speed, and with great purpose. Liverpool are light, and they pay the price. Semenyo runs at Konate and Van Dijk down the inside-right channel. Neither defender makes a decisive move, and Semenyo grabs his opportunity, forensically fizzing a low shot into the bottom corner. What a goal! What a comeback! What a performance by Semenyo in the face of that abuse.
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74 min: Bournemouth make their first change. Scott is replaced by Traore. “Liverpool FC should highlight Semenyo’s tormentor on their video screens before the next home game and shame them publicly as they announce a lifetime ban,” suggests Justin Kavanagh. “But the Bournemouth player has given the perfect reply on the field… the angle of his run for that goal was perfection.” Yes, a penny for the thoughts of Semenyo’s abuser when that goal went in. Not that those thoughts are worth that much money.
73 min: Gakpo has the opportunity to release Robertson into the box on the overlap down the left, but gets the ball stuck under his feet. That just about sums Liverpool up over the last few minutes. Meanwhile Gray from Wexford writes: “A lot of talk about Ekitike’s finishing. Mo Salah misses lots of chances but it doesn’t impact how he approaches the next shot. Most forwards miss lots of chances but it depends on when and what happens next. Ekitike has now opened the scoring in two games. A small subset but that is having a major effect on scorelines. All we can do is see how it plays out over time.”
72 min: Liverpool make another double change, and it’s a defensive one. Gomez and Jones come on for Ekitike and Mac Allister. Gomez, returning from long-term injury, goes to right back and Endo moves into midfield.
71 min: Liverpool are all over the shop. They can’t get near Brooks and Tavernier at all. Some pinball in the box. Then Evanilson flicks a header over the bar. It feels like an equaliser is coming.
69 min: Tavernier wins another corner down the left. Liverpool deal with it easily enough, but the hosts don’t look comfortable now. Bournemouth sniffing around for an equaliser. Should they get one, you’d have a hard job arguing that they don’t deserve it.
68 min: Brooks and Tavernier have caused Liverpool quite a few problems down the left. They combine to win a corner off Konate. Alisson claims it, and then skelps a long kick down the inside-right for Salah, who has the opportunity to break into the box and shoot, but he’s out of sorts and runs into trouble. The ball rolls apologetically out for a goal kick.
66 min: Wirtz tries to summon an instant response with a couple of crosses from the right. Neither are up to much. He’s been quiet on his Premier League debut so far.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Bournemouth (Semenyo 64)
Szoboszlai loses the ball and suddenly Brooks is sent racing down the left flank. Brooks curls a low cross just behind Van Dijk, who is out of the picture. Semenyo arrives and dinks over Alisson. What a break, what a cross, and what a finish!
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63 min: … but then another Liverpool goal would put the lid on it. Szoboszlai combines with Salah down the right and rolls a pass across the face of the box. Wirtz tickles a first-time shot towards the bottom left. It rolls inches wide. Petrovic probably had it covered, but it was a close-run thing.
62 min: Semenyo wins a corner down the right. When it’s sent in, Konate bashes a header clear. The visitors are still very much in this. One goal – and they’ve deserved one this evening – would change the atmosphere totally.
60 min: A double change for Liverpool, and they change both of their full-backs. Kerkez and Frimpong depart, with Robertson and – slightly surprisingly – Endo taking their places.
59 min: Tavernier slips Brooks into space down the inside-left channel. He dinks a cross infield. Alisson flaps it away from danger, then Frimpong blooters a clearance into the nearest blue shirt and back out for a goal kick.
58 min: Gakpo barrels in from the left and for a moment it looks like he’ll take another shy at goal. He’s earned the right, but flashes a cross over to Salah, free on the right. A generous gesture, with the rather large caveat of being seriously overhit. Goal kick.
56 min: Smith thinks he’s broken into space down the right, but he’s skittled Gakpo earlier in the move. Bournemouth are putting their heart and soul into this.
54 min: Brooks gets the better of Frimpong down the left, then gives the ball to Tavernier, who lashes a dangerous cross through the Liverpool six-yard box. Only problem for Bournemouth is, there are no blue shirts in there.
53 min: … but it’s just a word. And nothing comes of the corner. If your team had Frimpong, Van Dijk, Konaté, Salah, Gakpo, and Ekitike on the pitch, then why would you racially abuse Semenyo?” wonders Andy (not that one) Flintoff. “Unless you feel that the former six players shouldn’t be playing for your club either. Utterly brainless and the fan should have the book thrown at them, or at least a ban with their season ticket torn up with no refund.”
52 min: Mac Allister, near the Bournemouth D, takes a touch to the right to make some space, then unleashes a fierce riser towards the top left. It’s heading in, but Petrovic fingertips over. Before the corner can be taken, there’s a shoving match in the six-yard box involving Salah and Smith, the latter grabbing some shirt, the former taking umbrage with a shove. The referee wants a word.
51 min: Szoboszlai rolls a pass down the right for Salah, who swings an outside-of-boot cross into the mixer. Petrovic palms it away acrobatically with a couple of red shirts lurking. The hosts have their tails properly up for the first time this evening.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Bournemouth (Gakpo 49)
Ekitike turns provider. He makes ground down the inside-left channel and cuts back to Gakpo, who dribbles across the face of the box. It looks as though he’s lost his opportunity to shoot, but he takes another touch to make enough room to whip a low shot into the bottom right. Fine goal. Ekitike is making quite the impression.
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47 min: … from which Ekitike heads over from six yards. Again. Something to work on at training, by the looks of it.
Bournemouth get the second half underway. Liverpool soon come at them, Wirtz attempting to release Ekitike down the middle. Smith is forced to slide out for a corner …
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As for the Senesi handball incident … here’s what PGMOL have to say. Now. They’ve changed their tack from earlier, when it was argued that the ball ricocheted accidentally onto the defender’s arm. Now DOGSO is the thrust. Meanwhile replays suggest the Brooks-Mac Allister incident seemed to be more 50-50 clumsiness than anything else.
#LIVBOU - 13’
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) August 15, 2025
The referee’s call of no red card to Senesi was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the action deemed not to be a clear handball offence nor denial of a goal scoring opportunity (DOGSO), due to the distance from goal.
Sky have shown some pictures of Antoine Semenyo looking utterly broken after making his complaint of receiving racial abuse from a crowd member to the referee. His captain Adam Smith coming across to give his friend, staring sadly at the ground, a hug of support. Gary Neville says: “It’s despicable … I can’t begin to think what’s going through someone’s mind … it’s a sorry state.” Jamie Carragher adds: “The amount of campaigns we have … it’s shocking to see an incident like that … rightly reported to the referee.”
HALF TIME: Liverpool 1-0 Bournemouth
It’s been fast, furious, fun, and Bournemouth will consider themselves unfortunate to be trailing. They could also have had a penalty late on in that half … though having said that, they could also very easily have been reduced to ten men after 13 minutes. So it’s swings and roundabouts. If all the other Premier League halves this season are as full-on as this one, we’ll be in for quite the season.
45 min +3: The match switches into Basketball Mode. Brooks competes for a high ball in the Liverpool box. Mac Allister slides in from the side and whips him over. No penalty, apparently, though you’ve seen them given. Then Liverpool break. Salah romps in from the right and should either find Ekitike in the middle, or feed Szoboszlai on the overlap to his right. But does neither, and his eventual shot is blocked. What a waste. Then Bournemouth counter the counter, and Evanilson slaps a low shot wide left from the edge of the box. Wowsers.
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45 min +2: Mac Allister clumsily skittles Scott as the Bournemouth midfielder advances down the inside right. Another free kick for the Cherries in a dangerous position … and it’s another wasted, Tavernier blasting it witlessly into the wall with options elsewhere in the box.
45 min +1: The first of three additional first-half minutes passes by. “As a resident of Frankfurt and follower of the Eintracht, I can confirm that your entries at 37 and 39 minutes sum up Ekitiké to a tee,” writes Harvey Mayne. “Yes, he scores goals, but he misses far more and bad misses as well. I am sure I will regret him leaving later this season but a big part of me is not sorry to see him go.”
45 min: Szoboszlai, quarterbacking from deep, nearly releases Salah down the right with a raking pass. But Petrovic is wise to the idea, and races from his area to blooter clear. For a nanosecond there, Salah’s eyes had lit up.
44 min: Brooks swings the resulting free kick in low. It’s a terrible delivery, and easily hacked clear. “It happens in Europe, South America, North America,” begins Mary Waltz. “There is an element of the football community that is no longer ashamed of expressing vulgar racist insults, and homophobic attitudes. They don’t hide it, and they have the internet to find common ground with bigots all over the world. ‘Lighten up, it’s just a joke, don’t be such a snowflake, free speech.’ No, we won’t ignore it, it’s disgusting, and if you rationalise this behaviour or defend it you are disgusting as well.”
42 min: Semenyo shrugs off his old team-mate Kerkez with absurd ease, then switches play from right to left. Tavernier’s shot is blocked. Then Smith has a run down the right. Kerkez, in headless-chicken mode, slides in recklessly and upends his man. Into the book he goes.
40 min: A strange echo of the Community Shield for Ekitike: threading a cool shot into the bottom right, then missing an easier chance with a close-range header.
39 min: Ekitike celebrated his first Premier League goal with a No20 celebration, then a prayer. He’s nearly performing it again in short order, as Gakpo whips a cross in from the left. Ekitike should hit the target at the very least, but heads over from six yards.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Bournemouth (Ekitike 37)
Bournemouth have been the better team so far, but it’s Liverpool who lead! Wirtz slips a pass down the inside-left channel to release Ekitike, who attempts to nutmeg Senesi. He doesn’t quite manage it, but a ricochet lands at his feet, and he’s clear! He opens his body and calmly sidefoots into the bottom right. The champions lead.
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35 min: Evanilson busies himself down the right and lays off for Smith, who cuts back for the in-rushing Tavernier. He aims a sidefoot towards the right-hand portion of the net, and it’s an easy claim for Alisson. Had he put his foot through that, the Liverpool keeper might have had a problem.
33 min: Both teams continue to fly into challenges. All above board, but it’s making passing sequences a rare event.
31 min: The game restarts, and Van Dijk cushions a weak header into the arms of Petrovic.
30 min: According to Peter Drury on Sky, Semenyo was “subjected to a racist comment from the crowd.” It was Semenyo who brought Anthony Taylor’s attention to the incident. What is wrong with people?
29 min: Before the corner can be taken, referee Anthony Taylor trots over and has a long discussion with his fourth official. Notes are taken. Not sure what is going on here, but both Arne Slot and Andoni Iraola are invited over for a chat.
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28 min: Frimpong crosses low from the right. Ekitike tries to sidefoot goalwards from ten yards, but Diakite gets in the road to divert the ball out for a corner.
26 min: Semenyo throws long from the right. Liverpool just about clear their lines. Brooks then hassles Frimpong down the Bournemouth left. Eventually he concedes a free kick that releases the pressure on the hosts, but the Cherries are getting right up in Liverpool’s grille here, and they’re unsettling the champions.
24 min: Ekitike bundles into the back of Diakite, then swivels and prepares to shoot. But he’s fouled his man. So despite then being clattered from behind by Senesi, it’s not going to be a penalty. Senesi seems to be in a strange mood.
22 min: Salah goes bustling down the inside-right channel. He nearly breaks through three challenges, but that’s one too many. For a second, a facsimile tribute to this Jota goal against Chelsea was on the cards. But it wasn’t to be.
20 min: “Oh, he wears the No 20 / He will take us to victory / And when he’s running down the left wing / He’ll cut inside and score for LFC / He’s a lad from Portugal / Better than Figo don’t you know / Oh, his name is Diogo!”
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19 min: Bournemouth will be happy with their start to this game. Most of the match is being played in the Liverpool half. “Have we just witnessed our first VARpology of the season already?” wonders Dan Christmas. “It’s a clear lunge at the ball, I could understand if they’d said it wasn’t DOGSO - but it was as handball as handball can be.”
17 min: That Ekitike-Senesi incident has put Arne Slot in a right old funk. He’s ranting and raving in the Goodison Park style. Keeping it just the right side of Telling It As He Sees It.
15 min: Brooks is booked for arguing over a goal kick that he thought should have been a corner. Daft.
13 min: Senesi whiffs in the centre circle. Ekitike looks to break clear. Senesi extends his arm and with the very tips of his fingers, nudges the ball away, just enough to deny Ekitike a clear run at goal from the halfway line. It was very light. But just enough. Referee and VAR both give the defender the benefit of the doubt, saying it was one movement, the ball pinging up off his thigh, the defender unaware … but Senesi made a clear second lunge at the ball with his arm. That should have been a red card for the denial of a scoring opportunity.
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11 min: Liverpool counter, and Salah nearly releases Gakpo down the left with a sliderule pass. Smith, taking no chances, slides it out for a corner, and Petrovic claims the set piece. This is bright and relentless, and surely not going to end 0-0.
10 min: Semenyo feeds the overlapping Smith down the right, and a corner is won off Van Dijk. The set piece is flicked on by Evanilson, and it’s fortunate for Liverpool that Szoboszlai is at the right-hand post, and able to head clear.
9 min: Liverpool’s pre-season has been a story of exciting attack, porous defence. There are signs of all that already … and now Konate clanks a dismal backpass miles wide of his intended target, Alisson, and out for a corner. The set piece is easily snaffled by Alisson. It’s not too wild to suggest this could already be 2-2.
7 min: Truffert, the new Kerkez for Bournemouth, steams down the left, and curls low for Semenyo, who nips in ahead of the old Kerkez, Kerkez. He should score, really, or at least work Alisson, but leans back and hoicks into the Kop. It’s an open start.
5 min: Wirtz’s corner is worked long, towards Frimpong on the right flank. He lays off to Salah, who crosses for Van Dijk. He eyebrows a header over the bar from six yards. Liverpool’s captain might have done better leaving that to the nearby Ekitike.
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4 min: Ekitike flicks a pass down the left for Gakpo, whose cross isn’t all that. Adams clears. Then Ekitike strokes another pass, this time down the right for Salah, who cuts inside and lashes a curler towards the top left. Petrovic sticks up a strong hand and tips over the bar.
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2 min: The Liverpool faithful segue into their first chant of “Champions!” as Ekitike takes his first shot of the evening. It’s a dribbler straight at Petrovic.
Liverpool get the ball rolling. Bournemouth are kicking towards the Kop in this first half. The Jota song is rattling Anfield’s roof, all that emotion released.
A minute of silence “in memory of Diogo Jota, our Forever 20, and his beloved brother André Silva.” Perfectly observed. A mosaic of DJ20 in the Kop, another of AS30 in the Kenny Dalglish Stand, all in Portuguese colours. And then the whistle goes, and up with the song again.
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With more tributes coming up at Anfield, Liverpool look pensive in the tunnel. Mohamed Salah on his haunches, staring at the wall, lost in thought. Then both teams emerge from the tunnel as all four corners of the stadium resonate to that song about their lad from Portugal. Every single person doing the man proud. Then the playing of You’ll Never Walk Alone, traditional but never more on point. Many glassy eyes in the stadium. Salah holds his hands over his nose and mouth, trying hard not to break down. Dominik Szoboslai throws an arm over his shoulder and taps it gently. It’s hard to watch. So sweet as well. He’ll never walk alone.
Sky Sports began their broadcast tonight with this tribute to Diogo Jota. It’s heartbreaking but heartwarming in equal measure. “A champion for his family, a champion for his country, and a champion for winning the Premier League,” concludes Arne Slot, simply but rather beautifully. The Liverpool manager, responding to the terrible news last month, said: “I wish I had the words but I know I do not.” Well, he found them, didn’t he?
A tribute to Diogo Jota ❤️ pic.twitter.com/vdazuJeXUK
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 15, 2025
Pre-match postbag. “They’ll sing in the stadium, in pubs, in living rooms. #His name is Diogo# Present tense. Is. In the collective memory of the football world. I can’t imagine what it’ll be like for his wife and children in the stadium. I hope they feel the love that the club and the fans had for him” – Matt Dony
“Rest in Peace to Jota, his brother, and peace to their surviving family. This may be shallow thinking but with all the shite going on worldwide, these PL MBMs bring a temporary respite for many of us” – Mary Waltz
“Ekitike is already fourth on the all-time (meaning since 1992) Palindromic Surname Assist Providers list, behind Crystal Palace’s Eze (20-something), his former club-mate Ojo (one), and someone I have forgotten. Kabak is joint fourth but Ekitike is way out front among Palindromes Who Can Be Sung Along To ABBA’s Chiquitita” – Paul Griffin
Three differing examples of exactly why Mary writes such kind words.
More from Iraola, this time on the £57m exit of centre-back Illia Zabarnyi … “It is difficult when someone like PSG, winning the Champions League, comes for one of your players … I knew it was going to happen … I am very happy for him but it will be a big miss.”
… and his replacement Bafode Diakite, a £34m capture from Lille just a couple of days ago … “He is a great defender … it is probably risky to start him away here! … but he has experience in the Champions League … he will know the atmosphere … it will be a big test for him because he doesn’t have connections, the things you need with a team-mate … but we trust the player and hope he performs well.”
… then finally a word on Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez replacement at left-back, Adrien Truffert. “The transition has been quite smooth … he has adapted really well … today it will be a difficult job against Mo Salah … I hope he does well!”
It’s Andoni Iraola’s turn to chat with Sky, and he’s first asked about the upheaval in the Bournemouth defence, with three members of last season’s back line, plus the keeper, out the door. “It is a difficult moment … a lot of uncertainty … we cannot look at the negative side, and say we do not have these players … we have new players … even more players … and we have to build something again … a new start … exciting … this game will give us some more information … pre-season is always difficult … later we will know more about our team … we face the champions at Anfield … for the players we cannot ask much more than a start here!”
These two clubs are on the verge of doing some business with each other …
… but that’s not the only news of Liverpool in the market today.
Season previews. Time for one last look before the first ball is kicked in anger.
Slot continues: “We have lost many players and brought in many … even yesterday we brought in one who is not available yet … we have lost a few very good players … the ones we brought in are special as well … in general [in pre-season] we don’t concede more chances, but the ones we do concede have led to goals.”
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Arne Slot speaks to Sky Sports, and first addresses the impact on his squad of this tragic summer. “The players are far better than I expected five or six weeks ago … in that moment in time, you feel will it ever be possible to play again? … but they have conducted themselves so, so, so well … on both sides they were great, as a human being, but they also understood they have to be professional football players again … so we had to work hard, and that’s what we started doing.”
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Liverpool name four Premier League debutants this evening. Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez all start, as they did at Wembley against Crystal Palace last weekend in the Community Shield.
Bournemouth aren’t far behind them in that regard. They’ve got three new players in their line-up tonight: goalkeeper Đorđe Petrović, left-back Adrien Truffert and central defender Bafodé Diakité all make their competitive debuts for the Cherries.
The teams
Liverpool: Alisson, Frimpong, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo, Ekitike.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Endo, Chiesa, Jones, Elliott, Robertson, Nyoni, Ngumoha.
Bournemouth: Petrovic, Smith, Diakite, Senesi, Truffert, Adams, Scott, Brooks, Tavernier, Semenyo, Evanilson.
Subs: Dennis, Araujo, Soler, Junior Kroupi, Hill, Traore, Billing, Winterburn, Rees-Dottin.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).
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Diogo Jota is pictured on the cover of this evening’s match programme. Arne Slot pays tribute to Liverpool’s No20 and his brother André Silva in his notes, which confirm that Jota’s wife Rute Cardoso, his children and family will be at Anfield this evening. There will be a moment of silence before kick-off, the players will wear black armbands, and Liverpool will wear a Forever 20 emblem on their shirts and jackets.
We know that this will be a very emotional occasion, given it is the first league game we have played since we lost Diogo and André. As I have said previously, the tributes that have been paid throughout the football world, and especially within the LFC community, have been truly special, and I know that tonight we will come together to honour them once more.
I believe that Diogo’s wife, his children and his family will be in attendance and it is important that, as a club, we show that they will always have our love and support as they deal with this most tragic of situations. We are there for them always.”
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Preamble
Almost exactly one year ago – 363 days, to be precise – Liverpool found themselves struggling during their season opener at Portman Road. Newly promoted Ipswich Town had been the better team in the first half, and with nearly an hour on the clock, the score remained goalless. But then Trent Alexander-Arnold curled in from the right, finding his team-mate who ...
... flashed a header wide from six yards, when it was surely easier to score. Ah well.
No matter, though! That team-mate, an indefatigable bundle of joyous energy, selfless commitment, Fowleresque skill, and straight-up fun, wasn’t to be disheartened. He simply came at Ipswich again, 60 seconds later, entering the box to meet a Mohamed Salah pass by calmly and adroitly whipping a firm sidefoot into the corner. The first goal of the Arne Slot era, a crucial momentum-shifter, and the first step towards Premier League glory. Diogo Jota took Liverpool to victory. Better than Figo, don’t you know?
A year is a long time by any reasonable measure, but with another season opener upon us, all of that feels particularly distant now. Anfield, staging its first competitive fixture since the tragic passing of Diogo and his brother André Silva, will remember, grieve and celebrate those beautiful, beloved boys tonight with a special Kop mosaic in their honour. Then a game of football will take place. Kick-off will be at 8pm UK time, and Jota is forever Liverpool’s number 20.