Cardiff City 3, Liverpool 6: First Thoughts

Cardiff City 3: Mutch 9' 88', Campbell 25'
Liverpool 6: Suarez 16' 60' 90+6', Skrtel 41' 54', Sturridge 75'

• That was a fairly miserable opening ten minutes, and Liverpool were deservedly punished for the sloppiest run of play we've seen in weeks. Passing was poor, pressing was poor, defense was ultra-5000 poor, and Jordon Mutch's goal was the type of gift you'd expect when you're doing everything poorly. Poor. Pooooooor.
• But that Luis Suarez goal, huh? Great patience--and plenty pointed out that Philippe Coutinho resisted the temptation of putting one into Row Y (which he'd do later anyway) and passed off to Jordan Henderson, who slipped Glen Johnson in behind the Cardiff defense. From there it was a formality, with both Suarez and Daniel Sturridge queuing up to tap it in.
• AND THEN THE DEFENSE DIDN'T DEFEND!@!#
• Seriously though, Steven Gerrard shuts off, Jon Flanagan gets isolated, Daniel Agger has no clue what to do, and in the meantime Fraizer Campbell is celebrating Cardiff's second goal.
• Martin Skrtel decided that defending is for the weak-minded--which apparently the rest of Liverpool did as well--and scored another brace with goals either side of half to put the visitors ahead, the first of which came with Cardiff down to nine men after Suarez had rendered Mutch sterile and Kevin Theophile-Catherine unconscious with consecutive kicks of the ball. From there things were better.
• Sturridge back-heel for Suarez just lit your pants drawer on fire.
• Then Suarez turns provider for Sturridge, and a menacing wind slams the windows of your house open and sweeps into your dresser, blowing away the ashes of your pants. You should have known better.
• Dominance and control where panic and disappointment once reigned. In-game adjustments, Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers have them. Maybe Cardiff regressed to the mean after punching above their weight early, but make no mistake, this was as much about Liverpool asserting themselves as the real deal as it was Cardiff struggling.
• Except for that late goal. Dummies and your stupid not-marking and making the last few minutes, including five(!!!) of stoppage time, all nervous. Liverpool's defending, like a warm blanket that occasionally tries to suffocate you.
• Suarez hat-trick, though! Poor Raheem.

We'll be back shortly to take an in-depth look at everything that happened in today's game with the full recap. Until then, let us know your take on the ups and downs of the match in the comments, and if you haven't already, join the community on the Liverpool Offside, where we'll have full coverage and lively in-game discussion for every match this season.