Liverpool 2-1 Ajax
by James Nalton
at Anfield

ANFIELD did not know what to expect as kick-off time approached in Liverpool’s Champions League group stage meeting with Ajax.

A sombre rendition of the club’s anthem, You’ll Never Walk Alone, began to ring out around the stands earlier than usual — with kick-off still around 10 minutes away.

Then the more uplifting lyrics kicked in, creating what was one of the more memorable performances of the Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune in this theatre, where it has been sung so often.

The city, and the Liverpool fans, had already been targeted as the expectation was that they would not respect any pre-match ceremony following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in the previous week.

Even if you could hear a pin drop in Anfield during the moment of silence, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see headlines such as “Liverpool fans show disrespect by dropping in.”

The Establishment media already have their targets which include the city of Liverpool, Meghan Markle, trade unions, and anyone who might potentially veer away from the Establishment line on any subject.

But the period of silence was respected by all but a handful of fairly random shouts, which were soon hushed.

This show of respect was swiftly followed by a chant of “F*** the Tories,” once the game was underway. Normal business resumed. The question now would be whether Liverpool could resume theirs on the pitch.

If Anfield was unsure of what to expect pre-match, it was maybe even more uncertain of what to expect from its team during it — a rarity in recent years.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have not been their usual selves in recent outings, most notably in a 4-1 defeat at Napoli in their Champions League group stage opener, which the German described as the worst Liverpool performance of his tenure.

In the end, there was some comfort to be found in this performance. The Reds showed signs that the intense counter-pressing machine Klopp built was still functioning, even if in need of minor repairs.

Liverpool dominated the game against a talented Ajax side that had the potential to cause similar problems to those presented by Fulham and Crystal Palace earlier in the season.

Mohamed Salah opened the scoring following good play from Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota, but Ajax equalised with one of the three shots they managed in the game. What an outstanding shot it was, though, from 22-year-old Ghanaian Mohamed Kudus in front of the Kop.

As time ticked away it began to look like Liverpool would be dropping more points in their shaky start to the season, and though they created a number of chances, none were really clear-cut.

But their dominance was eventually reflected on the scoreboard when Joel Matip met Kostas Tsimikas’s corner in the 89th minute. It was a deserved assist for the Greek left-back, whose performance was only bettered by Thiago’s midfield wizardry.

There was some relief in the passionate celebrations, and Liverpool will hope they can return to business as usual by putting together a run of wins between now and the break for the World Cup in November.