LIV 4-0 WHU: 4 Talking Points from Liverpool's win over West Ham United
Liverpool kick-started their 2018-19 Premier League campaign with a sensational 4-0 win over London side West Ham United at Anfield.
Liverpool's 'Egyptian King' opened the scoring for the Reds in the 19th minute, tapping in a simple through ball from Andy Robertson from the left flank, and Mane made it 2-0 up for the Merseyside Reds just before half-time.
The second half of the game saw two more goals being added with Firmino sliding in a ball for Mane who quickly turned and took the shot. He was lucky, however, as he was in an offside position - a decision which will pressurize the officials to bring the Video Assistant Referee into the EPL.
The final one for the day was scored by a rejuvenated Daniel Sturridge just 24 seconds after coming onto the field.
Here are 4 talking points from Liverpool's win over the Hammers.
1) The 4-3-3 Formation
The 4-3-3 formation is widely used by managers around the world, but a mix of pace and gegenpressing, (a tactic where a team tries to win back the ball immediately after losing it) along with a pivotal false 9 makes Liverpool a deadly opponent for any team in the world in this formation.
Klopp remains very organized with his formations. With Van Dijk's arrival in the winter and Brazilian international Alisson's recent arrival as goalkeeper, Liverpool's backline is developing into a very stable and rock-solid formation.
Firmino's capabilities as a False 9 are unmatched in the world right now; he gives space to the likes of Salah and Mane who are already on a different level. But the most difficult problem this formation faces is playing against bus-parking teams. It'll be very exciting to see how Liverpool take on such teams in the remaining campaign.