The rousing pre-match edition of You’ll Never Walk Alone took on even greater poignancy given the tragic passing of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva.
Following an impeccably observed minute’s silence, Arne Slot’s revamped title-winning side - including four PL debutants - began the match in full-throttle mode.
Mohamed Salah unleashed a trademark looping left-footed strike that was parried away by Đorđe Petrović, before the Egyptian turned provider for Virgil van Dijk to head over the bar.
It took a mere 12 minutes for the first officiating controversy of the new season to surface, with Slot visibly incensed after Marcos Senesi attempted to swat the ball away using his hand as Ekitike looked to race through on goal.
The Frenchman was not to be denied in the 37th minute, though, breaking the deadlock after latching onto Alexis Mac Allister’s pass via the aid of a slightly fortuitous bounce off Senesi before clinically firing past Petrović.
He almost added a second moments later, as Slot’s men entered the break with a slender lead.
Ekitike added an assist to go with his goal five minutes into the second half, laying the ball off to Gakpo, who strode into a central position and coolly dispatched his strike past Petrovic.
Slot’s men were in the mood to inflict more damage, but Petrovic was on hand to tip Mac Allister’s speculative strike over the bar.
But just when Liverpool looked to be coasting, Antoine Semenyo halved the deficit at the end of a sweeping Cherries move.
Tyler Adams fed David Brooks down the left, and the latter’s brilliant cross was slotted home by the Ghana international.
Semenyo then scored his - and Bournemouth’s - second to stun Anfield, horribly exposing Liverpool's defensive vulnerabilities that had been present throughout pre-season.
The forward was allowed to make a surging central run towards the box, exploiting the space between Ibrahima Konaté and Van Dijk before rifling a strike past Alisson.
He became the first visiting player to score a brace at Anfield since September 2022, but the champions would have the final word through an unlikely source.
Andoni Iraola was left reeling by a defensive horror show from his own side, as Federico Chiesa latched onto a loose ball inside the box and fired home in front of the Kop for his first goal in the PL.
There was still time for Salah to net Liverpool’s fourth, with that his 10th opening day goal in the PL to raise the noise level even further inside Anfield after a blockbuster to kick off the new season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Cody Gakpo (Liverpool)
