One of Liverpool’s beleaguered opponents on Sunday reckons Jurgen Klopp’s side will be ‘a real force’ in the Premier League this season after their comfortable win over Aston Villa at Anfield.
The Reds eased to a 3-0 victory over Unai Emery’s side in what had looked like being a tricky fixture beforehand, the result leaving the Merseysiders with 10 points from a possible 12 heading into the first international break of the campaign.
John McGinn captained the Villa side who were blown away by LFC yesterday and, speaking after the match, he rued the early concession of Dominik Szoboszlai’s goal which sent the home side on their way to the three points.
As per Liverpool Echo, the £120,000-per-week Scotland international (Capology) said: “They’ve got players that can hurt you and have the quality to score goals like that. If you allow a team like Liverpool that head start it becomes a difficult afternoon.
“We had chances for people like me to get back into the game, but we didn’t take them. Liverpool proved that they’ll be a real force this season.”
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It’s still much too early in the campaign to make any definitive judgements on Liverpool or the other teams in the Premier League, but the indicators from the first month of the season are that the Reds will be vastly improved on the team who struggled for much of 2022/23.
Although they earned just two points fewer from the corresponding fixtures last term compared to what they’ve put on the board so far this time around, Jurgen Klopp’s team have twice as many points now as they did after four games last year.
McGinn was part of the Villa side which drew 1-1 upon their last visit to Anfield just four months ago (and they scored first that day), but they simply had no answer to a rampant LFC yesterday, with Szoboszlai’s third-minute strike setting the tone for the rest of the match.
There will surely be much sterner tests to come, but for Liverpool to emerge from trips to Chelsea and Newcastle – along with hosting Emery’s European-competing charges – with just two points dropped is a very promising portent for the campaign ahead.
Hopefully the 28-year-old’s prediction about Klopp’s team being a ‘real force’ in 2023/24 turns out to be accurate.
#Ep88 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️