Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Alisson has put Kop in wonderland
REAL MADRID lost the European Super Cup to neighbours Atletico and all understanding of the word irony when they reported Inter Milan to FIFA for making an illegal approach to Luka Modric.
They appear to have little chance of luring Eden Hazard from Chelsea and their fans, sulking at the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo and lack of a Galactico replacement, stayed away in their droves for the opening league game, with only 48,466 turning up, their lowest gate for a decade. Who says there isn’t a football God?
LIVERPOOL’S trip to Crystal Palace on Monday had the potential to puncture all the early-season optimism at Anfield. A defeat in the kind of fixture they have wilted in over recent seasons would have left many saying Jurgen Klopp hadn’t solved the defensive weaknesses and led to much mocking of title talk. Or as Klopp put it afterwards: “Everyone knows that when we are not brilliant, we usually lose. Today we weren’t brilliant but we won.” That’s the key to their progress. And as solid as the centre-backs were, it was the calm presence of a proper goalkeeper behind them that gives this team a chance. Rarely has an incident in a pre-season friendly impacted on a club’s immediate future more than Loris Karius’s goal-gifting blunder at Tranmere, which had both sets of fans focusing on his state of mind, and Klopp realising he had to break the bank for Alisson. After two clean sheets and no errors, that £65million fee for the Brazilian is already starting to look like sound business.