Liverpool and Arsenal Struggle in Premier League Openers

West Bromwich Albion midfielder Zoltan Gera celebrates his goal with teammate Shane Long. (Darren Staples)

Yesterday, the Premier League saw its new season begin. While most results came as expected, a couple of perennial contenders struggled in their first game. These two clubs are Liverpool and Arsenal. My blog post will briefly recap the action in both matches and look at went wrong for the two favored clubs.

West Bromwich Albion 3 Liverpool 0
Both teams had numerous opportunities to score, but came up short in their effort. Liverpool striker Luis Suaraz could have likely had a hat trick in the first half, but could not find the back of the net. West Bromwich finally broke through in the 43rd minute. Zoltan Gera buried a powerful strike to put his side up 1-0 just before the half. The Liverpool defense that had struggled all day suffered a big blow when defender Daniel Agger was sent off with a red card. They then gave up two penalty kicks in the stretch of four minutes. Shane Long missed the first one, but Peter Odemwingie scored the second one to increase the West Bromwich Albion lead to 2-0. In the 77th minute, West Brom substitute Romelu Lukaku put the icing on the cake. Liverpool struggled with the lack of being able to score on their golden opportunities. Their poor self-control and discipline defensively helped cost them the game as well.

Arsenal 0 Sunderland 0
Arsenal probably had a feeling that they would miss Robin van Persie and his knack for scoring goals. Now, they know it without a doubt. Despite firing away 23 shots throughout the match, Arsenal only managed to get three on goal. That is an embarrassing statistic when one considers that this is Premier League football. While Arsenal did out possess and frankly out play Sunderland, their inability to score was their clear downfall. Call me crazy, but it seems obvious to me that you have to score to win. Arsenal must find their offensive identity quickly if they are going to have any shot at competing with the best.