Liverpool 4-3 Leeds match report & Opta stats: Mo Salah hat-trick gives Premier League champions victory in Anfield thriller

Leeds had waited 16 years for this moment and it was well worth the time served as they showed, just like when they were last in the top flight, they are no respecters of reputations, with Mateusz Klich’s brilliant 66th-minute effort for their third equaliser an indicator of the quality they possess.

However, when Salah completed his treble with an 87th-minute penalty – his second spot-kick of the game – dreams of an Anfield upset were dashed as Jurgen Klopp’s men pulled a dramatic late win out of the bag again.

The game had some of the thrills and a lot of the spills you expect from a season-opener: more Salah magic, a rare mistake from Virgil Van Dijk, a Premier League debut strike for Jack Harrison, goals aplenty, just as many disallowed.

And that was just the first 45 chaotic minutes.

If Klopp’s team are going to be this careless this season then the trophy they waited 30 years to get their hands on will very quickly slip through their grasp.

Allowances have to be made for the circumstances under which this campaign began, with a shorter pre-season, still no crowds in grounds and preceded by an international break.

But neither Klopp nor Leeds counterpart Marcelo Bielsa would have been particularly happy with what they saw in a crazy first half, in which the only surprise was that not more than five goals were scored.

It was not even as if the attacks were on top – Leeds netted from their only three shots on target – and more a case of defences being carefree to the point of being negligent.

But through the fog of that chaos there were moments of quality and familiarity.

Salah became only the second player to score in the opening round of a Premier League season for the fourth successive time, matching Teddy Sheringham’s 1996 achievement, and while his first was a fifth-minute penalty, won after his shot hit the arm of Robin Koch, his second was a crisply struck half-volley when Leeds failed to clear a free-kick.

His strikes bookended a 29-minute spell in which the Premier League newcomers twice equalised with on-loan Manchester City midfielder Harrison’s goal a great individual effort, turning England internationals Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez inside out before beating Alisson Becker down to his right.

Patrick Bamford’s chip over the Brazil international after uncharacteristic hesitation and miscontrol by Van Dijk made it 2-2, cancelling out the Holland captain’s powerful header which Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier could not prevent crossing the line.

Both sides also had goals ruled out for offside, with Sadio Mane’s perfectly-executed lob over an out-of-position Meslier – who was also forced to tip over at full-stretch from team-mate Pascal Struijk’s deflection – particularly unlucky to be flagged for Andy Robertson transgressing as he closed down the Leeds defence.

While Leeds’ backline, despite their own title win last season, may have been expected to concede at Anfield where Liverpool have not lost a league match since April 2017, the host’s leaky rearguard was somewhat unexpected.

Klopp’s decision to leave out defensive midfield linchpin Fabinho in order to field a central three of Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum and Naby Keita undoubtedly contributed to that frailty.

Fabinho was eventually introduced just before the hour, moments after another bizarre moment typical of this game when Alexander-Arnold headed into his own net only for him to be saved by an offside flag against Harrison.

Bielsa responded by sending on club-record signing Rodrigo, a £26million capture from Valencia, but it was the combination of Helder Costa and Klich which brilliantly restored parity, the Pole controlling a low cross with his first touch and dispatching the ball inside the far post with his second.

Still the twists and turns came, with Van Dijk blasting home from close range only for the goal to be disallowed after referee Michael Oliver blew for the softest of fouls by substitute Curtis Jones.

But when Rodrigo fouled Fabinho late on there were no more mistakes as Salah clinically secured a thrilling victory.

Jack Harrison to have a shot on target was a winning selection in Saturday's betting preview - click the image below for Sunday selections from Mark O'Haire and here for Joe Townsend on West Brom v Leicester

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Klopp enjoyed the entertainment and said Liverpool, who conceded the fewest goals in the division last term, will improve defensively.

“What a game. Football as it’s best. What a spectacle,” the Red boss told Sky Sports.

“When you have seven goals, somebody must have made a mistake, probably. It’s pretty rare you see that many goals in a game.

“For us, it’s clear we left space for improvement in our defending but that’s not completely unlikely for a first game of the season.

“We should have done better but if an opponent forces you to make mistakes – and Leeds were here for that – then it can happen and it happened tonight.

“We will do better but offensively and in possession, I loved a lot of moments in the game.”

Leeds manager Bielsa was not prepared to accept the plaudits for the performance his side put in on their long-awaited return to the Premier League.

“You can never be happy in defeat. At this level errors equals goals,” said the Argentinian.

“To be able to score three goals is a positive thing, we should have created more danger when we attacked.

“We were very efficient but we didn’t create enough goalscoring opportunities. We also cannot ignore we conceded four goals. A lot of those goals could have been avoided.

“You can’t predict football but there are situations you know are going to happen – just because you know they are going to happen it doesn’t give you the security you can stop them happening.

“But when you concede goals to opportunities you feel could have been avoided it makes the disappointment bigger.”

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