A game of intrigue certainly, usually must win games don't appear in week two. However, after Chelsea, Man United and Arsenal all got out to blazing starts, Liverpool's title chances immediately faced a must win at home versus Stoke City, who they drew with twice last year. Liverpool could not afford to lose any points at home, especially after a shaky start.

Fortunately for them, and everyone else at Merseyside, El Nino came out in classic form and put one away almost immediately, allowing Liverpool to relax and play better futbol then they had played on the weekend. Glen Johnson made it two after half, which pretty much sewed it up, and two late goals were nice prizes for Kuyt and N'Gog. Stoke did not match their form of last year in this one, and Glen Johnson had a field day on the right side, blazing past defenders at will and creating many opportunities. If Liverpool's finishing wasn't so poor, six goals would have been easy. Regardless, Liverpool answered an early season test, but time will tell if they can continue to keep their spot in the Big 4. I don't see it happening, but after today's performance I wouldn't count them out quite yet.

Man of the Match: Glen Johnson. The major Pool signing this summer pays dividends immediately as he ran the Stoke defense ragged. His goal was spectacular and well deserved. His runs and balls in were extremely dangerous.

Other Notes:

- During this time two things were occuring. 1) Chamo was at work, unable to enjoy the games and 2) Manchester United were busy being both shocked and embarassed by a splendid Burnley performance. Just felt it was worth noting.

Ratings:

Liverpool

Reina 7 – Relatively untested, but shut down multiple of Delap's dangerous throws and then did spectacularly against a bullet through traffic from Delap. Distribution was quite good and an impressive albeit quiet match overall.

Insua 6.5 – Controlled the left side well, his passing was good, but his finishing left something to be desired when he miss hit a brilliant opportunity at the back post with a wide open goal.

Carragher 7 – Steady. Dominant. Standard. A typical well executed performance from Carragher where he seemed to never put a foot wrong.

Ayala 7 – Quite impressive performance from an 18 year old, he partnered Carragher well, even though he looked uncomfortable at times. Took the easy way out with the ball a couple times with deep clearances but overall impressive.

Johnson 8 – Absolutely torched the Stoke defense down the right side. Created many dangerous situations, wreaked havoc, set up multiple spots where Liverpool should have scored, and scored a brilliant and well deserved bike finish off a corner kick rebound.

Benayoun 5 – Gave the ball away too much, and didn't capitalize on a great through ball played out from the back. His passing left something to be desired, and he looked a step slow in multiple spots.

Gerrard 7 – Decent performance, certainly not typical Stevie G though. Looks as if the loss of Alonso is putting more pressure on him creatively and not allowing him to be the offensive destroyer that he has been the past couple years. Had a nice assist to Torres on the first goal and another later.

Kuyt 8 – Perpetually boringly dangerous, Kuyt lulled the defense to sleep while he created multiple dangerous opportunities. His header on the corner lead to Johnson's goal and he poked holes in the Stoke defense the entire match. Got a well deserved goal late.

Lucas 5 – I didn't notice him on the field for the first twenty minutes and continued to not be very impressed. His corners were quite good, outside of that nothing stood out. Not sure if he and Mascherano are the answer.

Mascherano 5 – Looked slightly lost without Xabi Alonso, his passing was solid but he gave away countless needless fouls. He was relatively clumsy, and was lucky that Stoke couldn't capitalize on his poor challenges.

Torres 8.5 – Simply sublime, he scored a brilliant strike four minutes in that took a lot of pressure off the team immediately. His pace and skill is truly beautiful to watch, and his commitment was evident as he went up for a tough header, got clocked, went off and got nine stitches and came back in four minutes later.

Subs:

N'Gog 7 – Didn't get a lot of time, but got a goal. That is really all you can ask, especially for a sub.

Riera 5 – Nothing notable in his short time in the game

Voronin 5 – Same, nothing major of impact to report

Stoke

Sorensen 6 – Performed well, made a couple nice saves. Really had no chance on the first two goals and after that the game was really over. Needed more help in front of him defensively.

Faye 4 – Made a couple good tackles, but positioning and speed let him down on the day.

Shawcross 4 – Just an overall forgettable performance for the back line, he did not stand out and could have been in better spots on the goals conceded.

Higginbotham 4 - Dangerous on set pieces, not so much on defense. Relatively painful performance from the entire back line.

Cresswell 3 – Just torched by Johnson all day. Looked outclassed and over matched. Subbed with thirty to go, almost a mercy sub.

Delap 5.5 – His throws were the most danger the Liverpool defense faced all day, and his cracker was Reina's best save.

Whelan 4.5 – Was dominated by Liverpool's attack coming forward and made little impact on the offensive end of the pitch.

Etherington 4 – Gave away the ball too frequently, and Stoke needs more from him in major matches like this one. He must step up for them to fight against the big boys.

Whitehead 4 – Picked up a yellow, made minimal impact and got subbed with twenty plus left. Certainly not the memorable game of his life.

Beattie 6 – The most dangerous player for Stoke, had a brilliant flick that no one ran on to, and an ambitious rip from just past half that he didn't put enough behind. Played well for the limited service he got, and served up a brilliant ball Delap should have finished.

Subs:

Fuller 4 – Did not have the impact he need to in an effort to rally to get back to a goal down.

Lawrence 4 – Replaced Cresswell, didn't perform much better then Cresswell did.

Pugh 5 – Didn't make much of an impact in limited time.