Summary
Liverpool didn’t deserve to win this match, but thanks to a little bit of Brazilian magic, they did. Coutinho was quiet all afternoon, and was well managed by Van Ginkel and Whelan, but he popped up late on to break Stoke hearts from long range. He’s got a knack of doing that, by the way.
3 - Three of Coutinho's four Premier League goals in 2015 have come from outside the penalty area. Vital.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 9, 2015
An away win at Stoke is a very good result these days, regardless of who is playing. For Liverpool to come away three points will give them a lot of confidence, something they had bundles of in the 2013/14 season. Bournemouth at home is their next match, and you would expect them to win that. With these new signings adding to Coutinho and co, who knows where it might lead them? It’s far too early to tell of course, let’s not get carried away.
The home side deserved a draw: Stoke will do well this season – Muniesa, Van Ginkel and Walters were all excellent – I would be very surprised if they don’t finish well inside the top 10 this season.
Thanks for all your emails and tweets. After Preston 0-0 Middlesbrough, I thought I was going to cover 180 minutes of goalless football. But it was worth the wait. See you next time.
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Full-time: Stoke City 0-1 Liverpool
That’s it, Liverpool get the win. A clean sheet, and Rodgers trudges off the pitch, to the away fans’ applause. Quite a different picture to 77 days ago.
90+2 min: Stoke, this is where you should revert to 2010 and start launching the ball into the box. Van Ginkel and Whelan trying to play through Liverpool at the moment, to little effect.
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90 min: Three minutes added on here. Can Liverpool hold on?
88 min: Danny Ings was about to come on for Coutinho, but he’s told to put his tracksuit back on. Sit down, son.
GOAL! Stoke City 0-1 Liverpool (Coutinho 86)
He’s been quiet all day, but there’s no doubting it, Coutinho is a match-winner. He turns Sidwell like a 50p piece, gets the ball out of his feet and from 30 yards, humdings the sweetest of strikes into the top right hand corner. From downtown, baby. Butland could perhaps have done better – the ball appeared to slip inside his left glove – but WHAT. A. GOAL.
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82 min: Since when does Odemwingie take Stoke’s free-kicks and corners? Since now, apparently. His free-kick was too strong, his corner failed to beat the first man.
80 min: Walters does well down the right and crosses. Lovren heads out but Van Ginkel is there on the edge, and he shoots hard and low, his shot blocked by Skrtel. That was travelling! Good defending.
79 min: Firmino’s first touches in a Liverpool shirt result in a mazy dribble, a heavy touch, a nutmeg of Muniesa and then an overhit pass to Milner. Peaks and troughs.
77 min: Substitutions ahoy: Firmino is on! Ibe is the man to make way, he took a knock on the nose a few minutes ago. Stoke’s Peter Odemwingie also makes his entrance in place of Afellay, and Sidwell comes on for Adam.
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75 min: For a split second, Benteke gets away from Cameron and bee-lines for the goal. But the Stoke defender shows considerable speed to catch the Belgian and get a tackle in.
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72 min: Charlie Adam booked for crunching Henderson. The Scot looks like he couldn’t care less.
70 min: Henderson makes a lovely late run from midfield and for once, there is nobody tracking him. Countinho sand-wedges a little pass over the top and for a second, Henderson is all alone in Stoke’s penalty box. But he rushes, and instead of taking a touch, he lofts a hopeful cross that falls too far in front of Benteke. Waste.
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69 min: It might be a coincidence (I’m sure it’s not) but Liverpool look about 472,781 times better now that Can is on for Lallana.
67 min: Suddenly Liverpool are transformed. First Coutinho loses his marker and dribbles into the box. He loses it, then wins it back, and lays off to Benteke, who sees his shot blocked. Next Milner gets to the byline and cuts it back to Henderson, but Cameron is just about able to close down the Liverpool captain.
64 min: Good save from Mignolet! After Gomez is given a yellow card for a foul on Walters, Adam whips a ball towards the back post. It misses everyone but might have sneaked in on its own had Mignolet not got a crucial touch. We saw a similar goal yesterday when Oscar opening the scoring for Chelsea against Swansea.
62 min: Butland is forced into making his first real save, collecting a well-struck shot into his gut after a shot from Lovren.
61 min: Liverpool make their first change: Lallana off, Can on.
59 min: Lallana tracks back and makes a challenge on Johnson, poking the ball away from the Stoke man, and Gomez this time does shepherd the ball out. But it’s given as a Liverpool goal-kick. Johnson is furious!
“Benteke should get one of those child leashes on Lallana to make sure he stays within 10 feet of him,” suggests Nas Iqbal. “The big man looking very isolated.”
55 min: Gomez shows his inexperience, and instead of clear to touch, or shield the ball out of play, he tries to send a clearance across his own box. It luckily finds Skrtel, who hacks it clear. Could just as easily have found Diouf, who was lurking nearby.
53 min: Ian Copesake emails “Coutinho is too easily bullied (or Stoked) out of this fixture, so that’s us down to ten men straight off. Then Lallana follows suit (nine men). Get the old looking hardmen youngsters on, Ings would do a job as opposed to wandering around writing poetry.”
51 min: Ibe tries to take Muniesa on the outside, but the former Barca man tackles Ibe superbly. Stoke fans on their feet, good to still see they’ve got an appetite for a strong tackle, even in this Hughesian utopia.
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49 min: Lovren is penalised for elbowing Diouf under a high ball. The Croatian only had his eyes on the ball, but he did catch Diouf quite badly, and Anthony Taylor issues the Liverpool defender a yellow card.
46 min: Van Ginkel gets things going by fizzing a long-range shot into Mignolet’s open arms.
“Not able to watch the match (not true, I just can’t be bothered), but am wondering how Van Ginkel is doing? As a Chelsea supporter, I’m hoping for a big year from him,” writes Simon MacKaye.
Looks very accomplished. Hasn’t tried anything too ambitious, save for that shot just now, but looks a genuine all-round central midfielder. Has had the beating of Henderson so far. Has a very odd running style though, seems top heavy.
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Peeep peeep! We’re underway again.
Erik Pieters has been taken off ill and so Philipp Wollscheid is on, so Muniesa will switch to left back. No changes for Liverpool.
.....
Glen Johnson: Currently has a higher rating (7.36) than any other player in the first half of #STKLIV
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) August 9, 2015
One minute or so until we’re underway again so Liverpool fans, listen to this.
Half-time: Stoke City 0-0 Liverpool
Poor from Liverpool, but at least they’re not 5-0 down.
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45 min: Two minutes added on for injury time.
“I can’t see Liverpool breaking through in this game,” emails Paul Kerton. “No game plan. Has Benteke touched the ball yet? Stoke are much livelier.”
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44 min: Interesting to see if Rodgers makes any changes at the break: he’s got Toure, Firmino, Moreno, Can, Origi, Ings and Bogdan to choose from. I’d suggest we might see Firmino on for Coutinho or Lallana.
42 min: Ooooo Milner needs to be careful. He’s just absolutely flattened Afellay in an aerial duel, just minutes after earning a yellow card. There is a nervous look towards the referee, but it’s just a free-kick. It looks like Afellay fell awkwardly, so the physios are on.
40 min: Five minutes until half-time, and Liverpool are yet to have a meaningful effort on goal. Stoke by far the better team in this first half.
@michaelbutler18 Is Benteke still on the pitch? Are any offensive Liverpool players?
— B.A. Brown (@yruadik) August 9, 2015
39 min: Milner leaves a foot in on Adam, who falls to the turf and has to push the Liverpool man off it. There is a brief scuffle, which ends when Anthony Taylor issues Milner a yellow card.
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36 min: Chance for Stoke! Walters feeds Van Ginkel down the right and the Dutchman crosses low, deflecting off Lovren and the ball fizzes over a despairing Mignolet, but Skrtel is there to hook it clear. Was that heading in? Hard to say whether it would have crept inside the far post. Afellay picks up Skrtel’s clearance and fires a volley at goal, which is blocked, and Johnson tries a third effort on goal, but it squirts over. Johnson could arguably have done better there, he had time to take a touch and take aim. Liverpool hanging on a bit.
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34 min: Johnson again gets the better of Coutinho. Not sure if baiting the England international is working guys.
32 min: Skrtel sells Mignolet short with a backpass, and the keeper is forced to sprint out, just beating Diouf to the ball. He only got there first a mini-second before the Stoke man, who is adjudged to have clipped the Belgian. Lucky Liverpool. Careless from Skrtel.
30 min: Ibe, who has been the pick of the Liverpool players thus far, embarks on another dribble down the right, carrying the ball a full 40 yards, but his eventual shot in blocked by Muniesa.
@michaelbutler18 How old is Walters? He's got more grey than I do, and I'm 57!
— Stephen Pearson (@Joe_in_Indy) August 9, 2015
31. Big look, if you ask me/Roger Sterling.
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27 min: Skrtel careers into the back of Diouf. Absolutely senseless foul committed in an area of absolutely no danger to Liverpool. Gives Stoke the chance to charge the box with their 6ft+ big guns. Yellow card for Skrtel.
23 min: Ibe nutmegs Pieters with a delicious bit of skill right next to the corner flag but the young winger is then checked. Free-kick to Liverpool, which Henderson plants squarely on the forehead of Cameron, who clears.
Ibe with a nutmeg #LFC pic.twitter.com/ow3ZhsD4ku
— Liverpool Gifs (@LiverpoolGifs) August 9, 2015
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21 min: Johnson robs Coutinho, who then makes no attempt to re-win the ball. Strange attitude so early in the game.
19 min: Liverpool work a lovely short corner routine, with Milner and Coutinho outfoxing Walters, but a heavy touch from Milner allows Walters to make a crucial slide tackle. Milner is furious with himself there.
17 min: Stoke enjoying plenty of possession here, but it’s a slow start to the match. ONly one chance of note so far, which Charlie Adam sliced wide.
@michaelbutler18 These tetchy matches kill me. Ponderous, no speed, no penetration- I miss the first-20-min-onslaught approach of '13/'14.
— Linda Howard (@quillichor) August 9, 2015
@michaelbutler18 And I can'r blame it on Glen Johnson anymore.
— Linda Howard (@quillichor) August 9, 2015
15 min: With no shortage of flair, Afellay flicks the ball up the line to Diouf with his heel. A Stoke fan feints.
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14 min: So Xherdan Shaqiri is in the stands. When Stoke were asked pre-match why he was here today, they said, “He just came to watch the game.” Ok then.
12 min: Benteke has shown some nice touches in the opening period. Cameron and Muniesa have kept the Belgian with his back to goal, but the former Villa man has linked the play nicely.
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10 min: Joe Gomez calmly dribbles past three Stoke players to set up a Liverpool counter-attack. He seems to have no shortage of confidence.
8 min: Chance for Adam! Walters gets to the right byline and cuts back to Adam, who is loitering on the edge of the area. The Scot is normally such a clean striker of the ball, but he slices it, with the ball spinning sideways towards Afellay, who crosses poorly.
6 min: It’s never not the case, but the atmosphere inside the Britannia is RAUCOUS. The Stoke lot are well up for it.
4 min: Afellay picks up a yellow card four minutes into his Premier League career, for a high boot that he planted into Clyne’s midriff. Accidental but probably a justified booking.
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2 min: Ibe ducks and dives and drives to the byline, beating Pieters, but it’s headed behind by Muniesa. Good start by the young Liverpool winger. He did this in pre-season, remember.
1 min: Glen Johnson dribbles the ball across his own six-yard box and pumps it long. And all is right with the world.
Peeeep peeeep! And we’re off. Stoke in red and white, Liverpool in all black.
“I think Liverpool will be desperate to make an impression and claw back some form of pride from the last encounter. Benteke and Countinho to score either side of the half way mark,” says a very precise Mark Ancharya. Andrew Sutton also thinks 2-0.
“I predict that the commentators will refer to Henderson as “England’s Jordan Henderson” at least once. Several clumsy comparisons will be made to Barcelona. Lallana will do well, possibly Liverpool’s best performer, but will be joined off after 60 minutes for no discernable reason. And Skrtel will make his customary 3 big mistakes, leading to at least one Stoke goal. The score? Anything from 1-0 Stoke to 6-4 Liverpool,” says Paul Devlin, a little more vaguely.
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The teams are out, we’re a couple of minutes away. I’m especially excited about seeing James Milner and Joe Gomez in action – as both were excellent in pre-season. Also for Firmino, hopefully coming off the bench.
A very special good-luck message for #LFC and the fans at the start of the new season... https://t.co/gxqYXW7fuT
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 9, 2015
This will be the first time that fans in England will have a proper look at Van Ginkel, on loan from Chelsea. Mark Hughes is building his side around the young Dutchman, who starts in centre midfield today.
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It’s predictions times people. Get yours in to michael.butler@theguardian.com and/or @michaelbutler18.
First up is Mike Mackenzie, from London, Canada, who thinks seven goals will be scored again at the Britannia.
“After confidently forecasting that Arsenal would score 5 or 6 against the Hammers I should probably give predicting a rest for a while ... however, that would be cowardly. So I’ll go with Liverpool 4 Stoke 3. Not looking forward to several comedic episodes in Liverpool’s defense though.”
I didn’t realise this until today, but look how softly spoken Christian Benteke is. What a dreamboat.
“The games leading up to that match at Stoke, had shown that Liverpool were actually incapable of winning a football match,” emails Ian Copestake. “It was a bizzare group psychological failing, the sort of mass hysteria that governed the inhabitants of East Proctor leading them to believe in werewolves... but I digress. The bizarre thing now is that one of the main figures deemed responsible for spreading that failing, that mental weakness, Glen Johnson, is playing for Stoke. Beware the moon, lads, and stick to the road.”
To get you in the mood:
The teams
Its reassuring to know that no matter how many players Stoke sign from Barcelona, Glenn Whelan will always retain a spot in the starting XI.
Stoke: Butland, Johnson, Cameron, Muniesa, Pieters, van Ginkel, Whelan, Walters, Adam, Afellay, Diouf.
Subs: Ireland, Odemwingie, Joselu, Sidwell, Given, Crouch, Wollscheid.
Liverpool: Mignolet, Clyne, Lovren, Skrtel, Gomez, Henderson, Milner, Ibe, Coutinho, Lallana, Benteke.
Subs: Toure, Firmino, Moreno, Can, Origi, Ings, Bogdan.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
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Preamble
Brendan Rodgers has now spent just shy of £300m on players in the three seasons he has been in charge of Liverpool. Let’s just let that sink in for a moment.
Whilst the turnover of players has been rife, before the 6-1 drubbing at Stoke on the final day of last season – just 77 days ago – there was never that much conviction that Rodgers was himself on the chopping board. But the nature of the defeat, a bitter end to a season where they had so obviously regressed, changed the mentality. As Rodgers made his way towards the tunnel at half-time with Liverpool 5-0 down, some of the away fans called for him to be sacked.
I’ve always said if the owners want me to go, I go. It’s as simple as that”, Rodgers admitted afterwards. “The first half was the worst I’ve ever had. I have never conceded that many goals in a game. To start with, it is an apology. All the supporters connected with Liverpool today will be embarrassed by that and deserve an apology. The fans had every right to be angry at half-time. Absolutely. We can have no complaints, all of us, if the supporters were angry at half-time because that was awful, absolutely awful.
Rodgers survived, and the club has undergone a mini-revolution over the summer, a line seems to have been drawn: Steven Gerrard has left, Raheem Sterling has been sold, and seven signings have been made, all of them first-team ready. This season is Rodgers’s last chance, and he knows it.
And yet, new season, new optimism. But this is a fragile thing, just ask Arsenal fans. Nobody is quite sure which Liverpool is going to turn up today against a Stoke side that is also completely transformed. It’s a new dawn: who will sink? Who will swim?
Kick-off: 4pm BST
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