Ian Kennedy, BBC Radio Merseyside
With no Carabao Cup commitments, it has been a clear run this week through to Sunday’s next Premier League game against Aston Villa at Anfield.
Victory in that game and suddenly Liverpool’s start to the season looks really impressive – just what they needed to set the tone for a better campaign.
They have still got to go out and do it of course, and it promises to be quite a game, with Villa looking much improved themselves, but a win for Jurgen Klopp’s men would just send another little message out following last weekend’s epic comeback at Newcastle.
Klopp and many of his players have experienced dramatic victories before, but there was something about Sunday’s win. You could see what it meant, and maybe it just gave them, and the new players, the belief that good things could be on the cards once again as the “reboot” takes shape.
And for Darwin Nunez, it must have been a pivotal moment. His finishing was superb, and even though his goal stats since coming to Liverpool do not look bad at all, there’s always been a feeling that his second season might be the big one.
Now of course, Jurgen Klopp must decide whether he’s ready to start, or whether he stays as an impact player. A nice problem to have.
Luis Diaz, Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota look sharp too, and so the focus will be on the other end of the pitch with Ibrahima Konate on the sidelines and Virgil van Dijk suspended.
That said, Alisson Becker produced a save-of-the-season contender on Sunday, so if Villa breach the defence, they have still got to get past him!
An intriguing early season encounter for sure.
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