Liverpool player ratings: two score 8/10 but one 5/10 in Bournemouth victory - gallery

Liverpool picked up their first victory of the 2023-24 Premier League season with a rollercoaster 3-1 victory over AFC Bournemouth at Anfield.

Luis Diaz, Mo Salah and Diogo Jota were all on target for the Reds - yet they had to overcome a horrendous start to earn all three points. But to blackmark the triumph, Alexis Mac Allister was given a straight red card in the second period and now faces a ban.

Liverpool made a woeful opening to the encounter and were lucky not to have found themselves behind within the first minute. A long ball caused misconfusion between Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate and Alisson Becker and the former’s poor touch gifted Jadon Anthony to finish into the empty net - but luckily the offside flag was raised.

Yet more slapstick play from Alexander-Arnold would indeed hand Bournemouth the opener two minutes later. The Reds vice-captain was pilfered of possession deep in his own territory, which allowed the Cherries to break and Antoine Semenyo to rifle home.

Liverpool thought they’d equalised on six minutes when Virgil van Dijk steered a header on goal but his effort struck the bar. Then Alisson Becker was given a huge let-off when he pondered on the ball outside his area and was dispossessed by Anthony. The Reds keeper chopped down the Bournemouth attack who appeared through on goal - although was only shown a yellow card.

The home side would soon find their feet, however, and a piece of brilliance from Diaz got them level. In the 27th minute, he took one touch before his acrobatic bicycle kick nestled into the corner.

Liverpool firmly went into the ascendancy and flipped the game on its head on 36 minutes. Dominik Szoboszlai’s quick feet drew Joe Rothwell into a foul inside the Bournemouth box, with a penalty immediately awarded. Salah’s effort was saved by Cherries keeper Neto but the Egyptian was first to the rebound and nestled home.

The Reds continued on the front foot in the second period, with Jota and Salah missing decent opportunities. Yet Klopp’s side were dealt a huge blow on 58 minutes when Mac Allister was given a straight red card for a foul on Ryan Christie.

Despite the setback, Liverpool would not let it impact them - and increased their lead in the 62nd minute. The impressive Szoboszlai’s powerful long-range effort could only be parried by Neto and Jota reacted first to finish from close range.

The game opened up after that, with the Reds threatening on the counter-attack despite their numerical disadvantage. Alisson made two decent saves to retain Liverpool’s advantage and Klopp would have been relieved there was no dramatic ending.

Here’s how we rated the Liverpool players.