Liverpool stumble, Tottenham impress in EPL openers

LONDON (AP):

WHILE LIVERPOOL made a stuttering start to the English Premier League, Tottenham showed it might be ready to take another step forward under Antonio Conte.

Liverpool had to come from behind twice to salvage a 2-2 draw at promoted Fulham on Saturday, largely thanks to new signing Darwin Nunez, after a performance that Jurgen Klopp conceded was well short of the team’s standards.

Tottenham also conceded an early goal but came roaring back to earn a 4-1 victory at home against Southampton after a dominant display that hinted that Spurs are well gelled after a full offseason under Conte, who took over as manager last November.

Newcastle, Leeds and Bournemouth also won in their league openers, while Everton were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in the late game.

At Craven Cottage, Fulham threatened to pull off a major upset as Aleksandar Mitrovic put the hosts ahead twice against Liverpool. But Nunez came off the bench to score one goal and set up the other for Mohamed Salah.

Liverpool nearly grabbed all three points when Jordan Henderson hit the crossbar in injury time with a long-distance shot, but even Klopp agreed that a win would have been undeserved.

“The start of the game was really bad from us,” Klopp said. “No direction, no positivity, no opening up, no breaking lines, nothing (of) what you have to do.”

It was a different story in north London, where Tottenham reacted superbly to going behind in the 12th minute.

Ryan Sessegnon and Eric Dier put Spurs in front by half-time and Southampton defender Mohammed Salibu netted a comical own goal when trying to clear the ball off the line in the 61st minute. Dejan Kulusevski capped a stellar performance by slotting in the fourth two minutes later.

“It was a perfect start for us, despite going behind,” Conte said. “I liked the game a lot for the result but especially the way in which the result was created – creating many chances to score, good possession, good high and medium pressure and we were good when we lost the ball and the intensity to try and get it back. ... Today we have seen (the) summer work with my players.”

Conte spent much of last season complaining about a lack of squad depth, but still opted not to start any of the team’s six offseason signings. Ivan Perisic, Clement Lenglet and Yves Bissouma came off the bench instead to show that Conte also has increased options this season as Spurs tries to join champion Manchester City and Liverpool in the fight for the title.