reds' Rio BRAVO

Liverpool Echo - 26 Aug 2025

By PAUL GORST at St James' Park 

paul.gorst@reachplc.c @PTGorst

IT'S now pretty much official: Liverpool are intent on defending their Premier League crown in the most bonkers way possible. 

After kicking off their campaign with a 4-2 victory over Bournemouth at Anfield, that saw the visitors fight back from two goals down before being beaten by a couple of late goals, Arne Slot's men followed it up by contributing to an early con- tender for game of the season against the 10 men of Newcastle United.

And while all the talk, on both sides of the divide, had raged about a certain Alexander Isak in the build up to this one, it was a new name that forced its way to national prominence here as Rio Ngumoha showed exactly why there is so much hype and excitement around the club for him, scoring just minutes into his Premier League debut at the tender age of 16.

How coolly he took the win- ning goal - in the one hundredth and first minute, no less - drew comparisons with the great Thierry Henry from one former Premier League striker in the press box.

It will be some time before the man, or boy, himself can justify that chatter, but the teenager doesn't even turn 17 until Friday.

It's easy to see why they think he can be special.

"Potentially elite" was how Ngumoha was described by one at Liverpool when he arrived from Chelsea last summer, but the Reds' secret is now out: The boy with 'Rio' on the back of his shirt may now just have become a household name.

But for all the delirious celebrations of the players and the pandemonium on the away concourses, there are issues that Slot will need to address in the cold light of day if Liverpool are to ensure their title stroll last time out was no one-off.

Four goals conceded in their first two games is proof that the coverage is not quite there just now and while the returning Ryan Gravenberch's poise and balance in the engine room was a welcome sight, those in the centre of the pitch are leaving the backline overworked at times.

Alexis Mac Allister's clarity of thought was missed here.

Virgil van Dijk was immense - and one stoppage-time header clear in particular was as good as a goal - but he cannot do it alone and this was another off- night for Ibrahima Konate, even when the hosts were reduced to 10 men after Anthony Gordon's red card.

Despite the understandable emotion of the occasion, Newcastle boxed clever tactically and refused to be lulled into pressing too hard and high, which forced Alisson Becker to go long with it too often for Slot's liking, leaving the likes of Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo to try and win it in the air, often to little avail.

But a sustained spell of possession after the half-hour mark finally allowed the visitors to get their foot on the ball and try to take the sting out of proceedings.

And with the Magpies growing in confidence through a series of Gordon half-chances, the champions caught their hosts cold with Gravenberch's low strike that caught Nick Pope flat-footed with 10 minutes of the half remaining.

If Newcastle's players had channeled the frustrations and the anger from the stands in the right manner for 45 minutes, the arrival of the fourth official's board was quickly followed by a rush of blood from Gordon, who foolishly launched himself into a poor challenge that left Van Dijk in a heap.

Referee Simon Hooper's consultation with the pitch-side monitor led to the tackle being upgraded to a red card. It was an awful challenge and while the home fans moaned about the Premier League being "corrupt" it was the sort of tackle that even the legendary Magpie Alan Shearer was made to concede deserved march- ing orders on X.

To rub salt further into those gaping, striker-less wounds, it was Hugo Ekitike, courted by Newcastle earlier this summer, who doubled the advantage with a smart finish off the post moments after the restart.

The powerful frontman added another exciting cameo to his increasing portfolio as a Liverpool player and once he is able to complete 90 minutes in the intense caul- drons of the Premier League, he will be some player for this new-look Liverpool side.

But there is little denying he needs help.

Once more, Ekitike's withdrawal coincided with Slot's team being unable to make the ball stick up top and the 10 men were invited back into the game far too easily for a side with genuine title aspirations.

Slot may claim his side have scored seven goals in their two out- ings so far but there is a lack of depth in the frontline after the decisions to offload both Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz.

It still feels crass in the extreme discussing the tragic death of Diogo Jota in terms of squad depth and coverage but the exits of the South American pair has left the champions light in forward areas. 

With less than a week until the transfer deadline passes, a decision now must be made: Go all in on a Isak pursuit - without confidence that the Magpies will finally relent in their refusal to sell - or pivot to a Plan B, who may come to be viewed as somehow less-than the Sweden international.

It's a delicate situation but the money is at least there, as evidenced by the £110m Isak bid that was rejected earlier this month.

And while the recruitment team are at it, another centre-back is also a must before the September 1 deadline.

The cat-and-mouse game with Crystal Palace over Marc Guehi may need wrapping up sooner rather than later if Slot and sporting direc- tor Richard Hughes are to ensure the squad is not left short.

A massive week awaits on the needed to stay at this level. transfer front.

After the outstanding Bruno Guimaraes had halved the deficit with a well-taken header, it was the rookie Will Osula, thrown on in the absence of a more experienced frontman, who profited from some desperately slack defending via Nick Pope's punted free-kick to set up the prospect of a remarkable smash-and-grab from the hosts.

A draw was the least the efforts of Eddie Howe's men deserved, but with 100 minutes on the clock, Salah's cross was beautifully dum- mied by the excellent Dominik Szoboszlai into the path of Ngumoha, who curled it past Pope like he'd been doing it for 10 years at this level.

But while Ngumoha will be able to make the journey back to Mersey-side with his goal on a social media loop, his post-match warm-down routines, overseen on the pitch by the club fitness staff long after the fans had departed, will have served as a timely reminder of the work needed to stay at this level.

Up next for the champions is a visit from Arsenal on Sunday. Another white-knuckle ride likely awaits on the early evidence.