Norwich kicked off their sixth crack at the Premier League by hosting Liverpool at a packed Carrow Road.
Daniel Farke set up his side in a 4-3-3 formation, with Milot Rashica, Pierre Lees-Melou and Billy Gilmour all making their debut and Ben Gibson and Dimitrios Giannoulis their first appearances after signing permanently for the club.
Jürgen Klopp also set up his side in their usual 4-3-3 shape. Diogo Jota started over Roberto Firmino in attack and Kostas Tsimikas filled in for the injured Andy Robertson at left-back, but the real surprise was in midfield, where James Milner was chosen as the defensive midfielder alongside the attacking Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keïta.
Liverpool dominated easily from the off. They pressed high, either forcing Norwich into playing back to Tim Krul to kick long for Liverpool’s centre-backs to win in the air or winning the ball in midfield if Norwich attempted to play out.
Once they had the ball, Liverpool looked to get the ball wide to Sadio Mané or Tsimikas on the left or Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right. They would then hit crosses, typically low, into the box to the attackers making runs, while Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keïta often joined them or were at least waiting on the edge of the area in support.
It was through this that Liverpool got the opening goal. Mohamed Salah had already got away shots from passes by Mané and Alexander-Arnold but he miscontrolled a low cross from Alexander-Arnold. Fortunately for Liverpool, this couldn’t have ended up more perfectly: Grant Hanley had stepped out in order to close down Salah and limit his time on the ball, but the Egyptian’s poor touch squeezed right between Hanley and Gibson to Jota. The Portuguese was making a run in behind Hanley as the defender stepped out, so the ball rolled into his path to fire past Krul at the near post.
Liverpool would continue to press high but as the game wore on, they were happier and happier to sit back and conserve energy, with Firmino and Fabinho introduced for Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jota to shore up the side defensively.
Sitting back gave Norwich the opportunity to actually push forward. Both Max Aarons and Giannoulis would push high up out wide, while Todd Cantwell and Rashica tucked inside. In truth, Norwich never looked a threat though and Liverpool dealt with what little Norwich could muster with ease.
Liverpool punished Norwich for pushing forward by doubling their lead on the counterattack, then, after assisting two goals, Salah added a third from a corner, continuing his record of scoring on the opening weekend in every season for the Reds since joining.
This was very much a routine match for Liverpool. Norwich had no answer to their pressing, weren’t threatening even when they stopped and Liverpool got their goal just by flooding the box and crossing. With Manchester City, Leicester and Arsenal next up, Norwich face a baptism of fire on their return to the Premier League and will need to make things harder for the opposition than they did here.
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