Liverpool 4, Leicester City 1: First Thoughts

Liverpool 4 Firmino 13’, Mané 31’, Lallana 56’, Firmino 88’
Leicester 1 Vardy 38’

• Pre-match: Two midfielders in Liverpool’s back line doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence, but we’ll have to see how this goes. Also: surprise accidental shiners during practice the day before a match are a good example of why you shouldn’t send your best defender out on loan.
• Not the start Liverpool fans will have wanted. Leicester starts out on the front foot with a majority of the possession. The defense looks vulnerable as they try to pass out from the back, and Vardy has made a few dangerous runs through our back line in the first five minutes
• Took 10 minutes, but Liverpool are into the groove and looking much better.
• GOAL! Firmino 13’ - Milner’s excellent pass finds Firmino running into the space created by Sturridge making a clever run. One touch to control and then Firmino made it look easy. Just when I was about to make fun of his hair. You win this battle, sir.
• Sturridge would have made it 2-0 if not for Schmeichel bringing up a very lucky hand to keep his close range strike out.
• GOAL! Mané 31’ - Wow, wow, more brilliance from Daniel Sturridge as he and Mané race towards goal. A tasty backheel from Sturridge and Mane dinks it into the net. I have beer, I have pizza, I have Liverpool up by two goals before half time.
• GOAL Vardy 38’ - Well that lasted about five minutes. Lucas, what the hell were you thinking? Way to bring the whole room down.
• The cameraman feels pity for Liverpool fans, pans to a lingering shot of Loris Karius on the bench.
• Half-time: Hopefully one moment of stupidity won’t ruin an otherwise dominating performance from Liverpool. They lead by one at the half, and with any luck, that’ll expand in the next 45 minutes. Sturridge made a strong case for himself up front so far and probably deserves his own goal. Sadio Mané is the light and the truth. I prefer it when our center-backs play center-back.
• Again, it takes them a good eight minutes to get back into it after the half. In the mean time, Leicester had some dangerous possession in Liverpool’s area, including Wijnaldum getting caught out, which nearly lead to another Leicester goal. Liverpool really are their own worst enemies sometimes.
• GOAL! Lallana 56’ - Wijnaldum with the assist. [Edit: Wijnaldum had the assist here, not Sturridge. Whoops!] Plays the ball off to Lallana moments after having his own shot denied. Lallana sends an absolute rocket into the back of the net. Are we entering the age of a goal scoring Adam Lallana??? Because wow would that be huge.
• Fair play to an injured Mignolet, he makes a fantastic save to deny Vardy, who was in clear on goal.
• That front line of Sturridge, Firmino, and Mané looked fantastic today, and that’s without Can and without Coutinho for most of the game. Can this Liverpool stick around for a while please?
• GOAL Firmino 88’ - Mané on the break, beats Schmeichel who comes running out of his box. Mané passes to Firmino, who slides it between two desperate defenders.
• Final whistle: Lucas’s brain freeze aside, the team looked unstoppable when they were dialed in. It was a good day.

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.