Match Recap: Liverpool 4-3 Leeds United

Leeds United were beaten late-on at Anfield with the PL champions winning 4-3, but The Whites showed themselves as a team that can compete.

It was to be a tough match for the two centre-backs, with Koch making his debut having trained only five times with his new club, while youngster Pascal Strujik has very few senior appearances in his career, never mind against Liverpool.

But Koch was unlucky to concede a penalty kick early-on, with the ball bouncing off his knee and hitting his out-stretched arm before he even knew about it. However, the spot-kick was given, and Mo Salah finished straight down the middle.

Leeds hit-back quickly, with a brilliant long-ball from Kalvin Phillips found Harrison on the left side, who sped away from Alexander-Arnold before cutting inside and finishing into the near-bottom corner.

Liverpool re-took the lead from a corner kick, with Van Dijk beating Koch to Robertson’s cross by the front post, as Mane managed to cut across the German centre-half just in time to give Van Dijk plenty of room to score.

But Leeds wouldn’t give in, as Dallas latched onto a one-two over the top of Liverpool’s high press, before sending a long-ball over the top for Bamford to chase. Van Dijk should’ve had it covered, but made a meal of clearing the ball and Bamford finished past Allison to equalise again for The Whites.

But Liverpool to the lead again just after the half-hour mark, with a free-kick from the left going into the box, taking a surplus amount of white shirts with just one player. The cross was headed away into the path of Salah who waited on the edge of the box, before unleashing an unbelievable strike into the top right corner.

It took a little longer for the third equaliser to arrive, but Leeds grabbed it on 67 minutes thanks to Mateusz Klich. The Pole started the move as he played the ball to Costa on the right, before the winger found Klich moving in toward the front-post before flicking the ball up and volleying home to make it 3-3.

Leeds had been pushing up to that point, but as time went on Liverpool started pushing on. With just two minutes to go, a clumsy challenge from Rodrigo sent Fabinho to ground, with Salah putting away the penalty to secure his hat-trick.

A difficult way to finish such a strong opener at Anfield, but there are many positives to take from a Leeds United perspective. On to next week.