Liverpool 0, Stoke 0: First Thoughts

Liverpool 0 Stoke City 0

• PRE-MATCH: Salah gets a chance to break the goalscoring record today as he starts for Klopp. Meanwhile, Milner gets a rest and Alexander-Arnold comes into the midfield. Robertson, Lovren, and Mané are also rested in advance of Wednesday’s big match.
• Salah misses a 1v1, what is this nonsense? I don’t like this new reality we’re living in.
• And another miss off of a fast break. Salah sets up Alexander-Arnold, who doesn’t get the right touch on it and Butland takes care of it.
• Liverpool’s 3-4-3 looks shaky at the back when the break is on. Have to hope the attack can compensate for any frailties.
• This game so far not rewarding my will to wake up at 6:30 in the morning on another Saturday.
• Gini comes close, but it’s just wide of the near post.
• Ings has a goal disallowed for offside. Probably the right call, but still gutted for him. And for me. This game is now 40 minutes gone.
• Jordan Henderson is on the ground clutching his ankle, and I want to burn everything to the ground.
• Trent Alexander-Arnold is indicating that he has a problem as well. Also not great.
• HALFTIME: Our midfield is dissolving in front of our eyes. It’s still scoreless. We might come back out with nine men.
• The second half picks up where the first half ended: making me wish I’d stayed in bed.
• Milner and Clyne replace Alexander-Arnold and Ings in the 65th minute.
• Moreno tries a shot, but it goes wide of the far post. Liverpool have the bulk of the possession here but can’t seem to do anything with it. You wouldn’t even know Firmino and Salah were on the pitch right now.
• I hate this game. I hate early morning kick-offs. I hate Salah not scoring. I hate everything.
• Six added minutes to siphon more of my life away for this game.
• FINAL: That sucked.

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.