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Liverpool new boy Naby Keita grateful for Daniel Sturridge support

Jurgen Klopp is trying to keep a lid on expectations, but ahead of the new Premier League season, Anfield is brimming with excitement that Liverpool could finally end a near three decade wait to be crowned champions of England.

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City have now lost only one away game in the league – at Liverpool – of their last 21, and manager Pep Guardiola was delighted with them.

“We can not be anything different than the challenger because we haven’t won anything since I came in”.

“We are the ones who have to do more, fight more, and that must be our attitude”.

“That’s his first game – he’s only going to get better, I’m sure, getting used to the way we play and the system, getting used to his new teammates and playing Premier League football”.

And Nico Vaesen said: “We will wait over the next few days to see if they will present an offer”.

The England worldwide, who has played at full-back for the majority of his Reds career to date, was an assured presence alongside Virgil van Dijk to limit West Ham to only two shots on target.

“We knew before the game that our start was very hard”.

West Ham offered little as their five debutants struggled to gel and Daniel Sturridge rubbed salt in their wounds late on when he knocked home from a corner within seconds of appearing as a substitute.

“In the moment someone thinks we reached already a point then that is when you start disappointing yourself and the people around you”. It is a start – not ideal but really good.

The 28-year-old featured regularly in pre-season and scored four times to stake a convincing claim for regular opportunities.

“As a manager you can work a lot of different ways with a lot of different tactics, a lot of different systems, but if you don’t have good players it’s impossible to be a good team”.

Alisson conceded Jürgen Klopp making him a transfer priority was particularly flattering and he hopes a strong team spirit will bolster a bid for Premier League glory. You can not test before you have the test.

New West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini admitted his team were outplayed, although he pointed out, with some justification, that Mane’s second goal could have been ruled out for offside.

But a devastating injury in the Champions League final left Salah unfit and Egypt eventually crashed out after three losses.

“I said many times, of course our average level is high, but I have a feeling, still, that we can improve”. They deserved to win.

Liverpool strolled to their usual victory over West Ham, whom they have now beaten 4-0, 4-1, 4-1 and 4-0 in the last four meetings.

“If I am asked one day and I am available then I would think about it”, he told Welt am Sonntag (via Goal).

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Redknapp told the Daily Mail: “We’ve waited nearly a year to see Naby [Keita] in the Premier League but boy was he worth the wait!”

Alisson Keita handed first Liverpool starts