Liverpool Thrash West Ham, Serve Notice

Maybe it's because of Jurgen Klöpp's £161million-and-change spending spree this summer that he's got lofty expectations for his side this season.

Maybe it's also because Liverpool gave Real Madrid all it wanted in the Champions Cup title match last spring.

Because maybe, if his super-striker didn't exit early in that clash due to injury and if his 'keeper didn't morph into a space cadet -- or something -- the Reds would've hoisted that hardware instead.

There was no maybe in their Premiership opener, though. Dudes checked every box in their 4-0 thrashing of West Ham United.

 

With all that backstory, not sure where Klöpp was going with his Rocky Balboa comparison for a match like this.

Then again, maybe he's just polishing the image for the 'Pool's first big-fish meeting on Sat 15 Dec when they visit Tottenham.

In this one, the Hammers were completely dominated at Anfield, with an inspired Naby Keïta drawing raves for his control of the match from Steven Gerrards's old position and showing he's deserving of Gerrard's No 8 shirt.

Keïta was the architect of Liverpool's first goal. Only 18 minutes into the proceedings, dude drove forward and dished to Andy Robertson, who assisted an open Mohamed Salah for football's version of a gimme:

After that, the Reds spent most of the half keeping a high defensive line by the midfield, which damn near suffocated West Ham. Even then, it was all they could do to contain Felipe Anderson -- always the dangerous player -- who tried to lead their counterattacks, mainly on the left wing, battling against Alexander-Arnold.

At the other end, after saving three clear chances on Salah, Lukas Fabianski could do nothing two minutes into added time when Robertson crossed and James Milner's half-volley assisted Sadio Mané:

Give the Hammers credit, though. They fought like a pike reeled into a rowboat, but their efforts were just as futile.

In the 53rd minute, Liverpool managed to turn a counter-attack into a goal when Roberto Firmino cleverly assisted Mané, who looked slightly offside. But the flag stayed down as the Senegal international lit up the board once again:

 

After that, the Reds switched into glide and West Ham recognized the inevitable.

They did try for their consolation goal, but newly-signed 'keeper Alisson proved to be a steady, drama-free presence between the sticks.

Klopp subbed off the entire front-three, including Daniel Sturridge in the 88th minute for Salah.

20 seconds later, dude's first touch ended up in the back of the net after a nifty corner from Milner:

The 'Pool did look like they picked up right where they left off last spring. Their task now is to keep it that way.

Kinda like the Rocky sequels.