Liverpool give Leicester a wake up calls

Liverpool players celebrate their 4-1 win over Leicester City in their English Premier League match at Anfield in Liverpool on Saturday.(Photo: AFP)

Liverpool turned on the style to mark the opening of the new-look Anfield with an imperious 4-1 rout of Premier League champions Leicester on Saturday.

Roberto Firmino opened the scoring with a clinical finish in the 13th minute and Sadio Mane increased Liverpool’s advantage with a close-range effort in the 31st.

Liverpool midfielder Lucas, playing out of position in central defence, gave Leicester a lifeline with a terrible 38th-minute backpass that Jamie Vardy drilled into the empty net.

But Adam Lallana’s rocket in the 56th minute and Firmino’s second in the 89th minute wrapped up Liverpool’s second win of the season and left Leicester contemplating a lacklustre start to their title defence. “It was a good challenge because we can be really strong, but Leicester have big quality and we had to show we believed in our style” manager Jurgen Klopp said.

At the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal left it late to ease the pressure on Gunners boss Arsene Wenger, who has been questioned over his transfer dealings and the team’s slow opening to the season.

The critics were sharpening their knives when Arsenal fell behind in the 18th minute through a Petr Cech own goal from Dusan Tadic’s free-kick.

But Arsenal equalised 11 minutes later thanks to a spectacular overhead kick from Laurent Koscielny.

And Santi Cazorla secured Arsenal’s second win of the season when the Spaniard stroked home a controversial penalty awarded for Jose Fonte’s tackle on Olivier Giroud in the 94th minute. “It is a relief because we missed many chances and they had one or two opportunities having thrown everything forward,” Wenger said.

Tottenham swept to a 4-0 victory at bottom-of-the-table Stoke as South Korean Son Heung-Min sparkled on his first appearance of the season.