- The 2025-26 English Premier League season officially kicked off last night with Liverpool beating AFC Bournemouth 4-2 at Anfield
- It was an emotional evening for Liverpool as the players, fans and backroom staff paid tribute to Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash last month alongside his brother Andre Silva
The 2025-26 English Premier League season officially kicked off last night with Liverpool facing AFC Bournemouth at Anfield. The defending champions began their title defense in stellar fashion by recording a vital 4-2 win over Bournemouth.
The Reds went 2-0 up but almost settled for a draw as Antoine Semenyo scored a brace in twelve minutes to level the scores for Bournemouth. Two late goals from Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah proved to be the difference as Arne Slot’s side walked away with all three points at full-time.
Slot included four of his summer signings – Hugo Ekitikie, Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Kerkez – in the starting XI against Bournemouth. After a slow start to things at Anfield, Ekitikie who arrived from Eintracht Frankfurt for a reported £79 million, broke the deadlock in the 37th minute with a sublime finish after a brilliant play inside the box.
Hugo Eketikie marked his Premier League debut by a goal and an assist. Photo/ Sky Sports.
Ekitikie continued with his brilliant performance in the second half, providing the assist to Cody Gakpo’s goal in the 49th minute. While it seemed the Reds were on their way to a big win in their opening game of the season, Bournemouth fought and scored two goals in twelve minutes to tie the game.
Antoine Semenyo was the man of the moment as he showed great skill in front of goal to put his side back into contention. The 25-year-old badly exposed Liverpool’s defensive vulnerabilities which had been present throughout the pre-season games and during the FA Community Shield match against Crystal Palace last weekend.
Semenyo first tapped home David Brooks’ brilliant cross into the box before running nearly half the pitch and then slotting the ball home.
With time running out, it looked like the Cherries were going to walk away with a point. However, Federico Chiesa had other ideas in mind. The former Juventus man, who was linked to a move away from Anfield before the end of last season, latched onto a loose back inside the box and fired past the visitor’s goalkeeper to put Liverpool in front in the 88th minute.
Mohamed Salah sealed the win in stoppage time with a well taken strike to record his tenth opening day goal in the Premier League.
Liverpool Pay Tribute To Diogo Jota On First Day Of Premier League
It was an emotional evening for Liverpool as the players, fans and backroom staff paid tribute to Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash last month alongside his brother Andre Silva. A minute of silenced was observed before kick-off and the fans gave a round of applause in the 20th minute. Jota wore number 20 at Liverpool and the club announced that they would retire the No. 20 jersey following his death.
Speaking after the match, Liverpool manager Slot said he was impressed by the moving tribute for Jota at Anfield.
“Normally at 2-2 everyone knows which player I look to at that moment in time. I would have loved to bring in Diogo Jota, but I could not for terrible reasons. But the fans and the players did what he did for us many times in the past. The main emotion I think should be how impressive and how powerful the tribute for Diogo was.” BBC quoted Arne Slot.
Mohamed Salah was in tears at full-time as he acknowledged the tribute of Liverpool fans to Diogo Jota who passed away at the age of 28. Photo/ ESPN.com.
Mohamed Salah did Jota’s crocodile celebration after scoring Liverpool’s fourth goal of the night. The Egyptian forward also remained on the pitch after the full-time whistle to acknowledge the fans’ tribute to Jota.
