Rodgers praises Reds for avenging Stoke humiliation

The ECHO rated Phillipe Coutinho and Dejan Lovren as the Reds’ top performers on the opening day – both scoring an eight – but we wanted your views on this new look Liverpool.

He started with six of the players that featured in that Britannia Stadium hammering 77 days previously but handed starts to four summer signings in Christian Benteke, James Milner, Nathaniel Clyne and Joe Gomez.

As the clock ticked down and a goalless draw seemed to be the likely result, Philippe Coutinho stepped up and proved to be the difference.

Hughes said: “We are hopeful we can do something but until we see players standing in front of the training ground with a shirt in their arms then you never know”.

“It was a great turn and a wonderful strike to win the game“.

Victory for Liverpool also avenged the 6-1 humiliation they suffered at the hands of Stoke at the Britannia Stadium on the final day of last season – the club’s heaviest defeat since 1963.

The former Charlton man had an impressive first team debut for the Reds and Aldridge said Gomez has caught his eye so far while playing in Liverpool shirt. The Brazilian’s accuracy from distance has been a formidable weapon for Liverpool and, though Butland did get his fingertips to the ball, that was the moment that completely changed the complexion of the match.

“He’s one of the nicest boys in the dressing room as well and he’s the sort of player you need when you’re in the last 10 minutes when your back is against the wall, he can produce pieces of magic like that”. It was about ensuring the personality came out.

When asked whether Liverpool’s No10 can develop into a major star of the Premier League, Rodgers replied: “I think he already is”.

“It is always hard when you come to Stoke”.

‘Ultimately it is about getting that win whether it is a game where we can move the ball about or whether it is a game where it is a battle and we have to grind it out.

“I thought Ibrahim Afellay was superb for us, but he exhausted towards the end, Marco van Ginkel produced a good performance too and Glen Johnson just reminded everybody what he has been for a long, long time, a very accomplished full-back”, he said.