Jurgen Klopp believes "massive talent" Fabio Carvalho can dazzle in the Premier League with Liverpool ahead of the teenager's Fulham reunion.
The first Saturday of the English top-flight season sees Liverpool travel to tackle last season's Championship winners, who return to the elite after a traumatic 2020-21 relegation.
Fulham have yo-yoed between the Championship and Premier League over recent years, having two single-season spells among the big boys and three promotions.
Portuguese winger Carvalho scored 10 goals and had eight assists in 36 Championship games for Fulham last season, leading to a £5million switch to Anfield.
"He's a top player. I really love it," said Klopp. "He's a massive talent and a really good kid. I'm really happy to have him, it's very important for us because we count on this age group as well.
"We don't wait until they're 22, 23, or whatever, and then we use them. He's ready like Harvey [Elliott] is ready, in a similar age group.
"And that's really good. We all need luck in life with injuries and stuff like this, but without that he will be a really important player for us."
Midfielder Elliott also joined Liverpool from Fulham, three years ago in his case. Both players are 19, with Carvalho coming up for his 20th birthday on August 30, and Klopp quipped that Liverpool's buys from the Cottagers carry echoes of a former spending habit.
"It's like with Southampton in the past," Klopp said, harking back to deals for the likes of Sadio Mane, Adam Lallana and Virgil van Dijk.
Carvalho had a fleeting introduction to the Premier League as a fringe figure with Fulham in their relegation campaign, and will hope to be more involved with Liverpool.
Saturday's game might look like a mismatch, but closer examination suggests Liverpool will need to be sharp to avoid an early slip-up.
Two seasons ago, when bossed by Scott Parker, Fulham became the first side to fail to reach double figures for goals in home league games in English league history, netting just nine in 19 games in their relegation campaign.
They are winless in their last 10 Premier League games (D2 L8), yet their last top-flight victory came against Liverpool in March 2021.
Indeed, Fulham also managed a 1-1 home draw against Klopp's team in that campaign, as Liverpool suffered a hangover from their previous title-winning season.
The Cottagers' four points against the Reds was their joint-most against any opponent, with Fulham also taking four against Sheffield United and West Brom, who joined them in tumbling into the second tier.
Encouragement for Liverpool comes in knowing that on the five previous occasions Fulham have been promoted to the top flight, they have then lost their first league match of the season, doing so in 1949-50, 1959-60, 2001-02, 2018-19 and 2020-21.
Some will expect Marco Silva's team to be easily picked off by Liverpool, who were runners-up to champions Manchester City in May, but Klopp does not see it that way.
"Fulham is doing really well and did extremely well last year," Klopp said.
"I met Marco at a managers' meeting in London. Getting promoted but playing football is one of the harder things to do in the Championship. He gets all my respect and that's what Fulham did."
Klopp lost his first Premier League meeting with Silva in February 2017, with his side beaten 2-0 away at Hull. Since then, though, Klopp is unbeaten in his last four against the Portuguese in the competition (W2 D2), with the most recent being a 5-2 win against Silva's Everton.
Liverpool secured Mohamed Salah on an extended contract during the off season, and the Egyptian will be looking for a familiar fast start to a season.
He has scored in Liverpool's Premier League opener in each of his past five seasons with the club, the only player in the competition to have ever put such a run together. Salah has seven goals in all on matchday one in the competition, one shy of the record held jointly by Alan Shearer, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney.
Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Leipzig: Visitors fightback halts unbeaten streak for Alonso's side
Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first defeat in 36 Bundesliga matches, as Leipzig came from behind to stun Xabi Alonso's side 3-2 at BayArena.
Lois Openda struck twice for Marco Rose's, who recovered from 2-0 down to make it two wins from two and move to the summit of the table.
It looked like business as usual for the reigning Bundesliga champions when they scored twice in the last seven minutes of the first half through Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo.
However, Leipzig replied deep into first-half stoppage time with Kevin Kampl reducing the deficit.
Openda then brought the visitors level in the 57th minute, before a stunning long-range strike completed the turnaround 10 minutes from time, condemning Leverkusen to their first league defeat in 15 months.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen's long streak comes to a shuddering halt
Leipzig became the first side to beat Leverkusen in a Bundesliga match since Bochum achieved the feat a staggering 462 days earlier.
The visitors have begun a Bundesliga season with two wins from two for only the second time, also doing so in 2019-20.
They are also now unbeaten in 13 league matches, their longest such streak since Rose took charge.
As for Leverkusen, their invincible streak is officially history, as is their 29-game unbeaten run on home soil.
McKenna: Ipswich have more belief after opening three matches
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna believes his side have gained belief from their opening three fixtures of the season.
McKenna’s side picked up their first point of the Premier League campaign since being promoted on Saturday, drawing 1-1 at home to Fulham.
This followed losses in two tough opening matches against Liverpool and Manchester City.
Despite a total of just one point so far, McKenna believes all three matches were beneficial to help show his side how they can approach the season.
"Especially in the Liverpool game, the players came away with more confidence from it," McKenna said.
"And [against Fulham] we built on what we did against Liverpool. Our pressure was good and aggressive again.
"I think the players have come away from the first three games with more belief to be honest."
The 38-year-old was delighted with Liam Delap’s display after he got off the mark for the first time since his summer move from Manchester City.
"I enjoyed his all-round performance, each week he’s getting stronger, he’s learning and he’s got great growth to come," added McKenna.
“He’s got great potential, we have real faith in Liam and we are enjoying working with him.”
Marco Silva was slightly disappointed that his Fulham side failed to build on last week’s victory over Leicester City.
Adama Traore scored an equaliser before half-time but there was little between the teams after the break.
Silva said to BBC Sport: “It was a tough game against an aggressive side. They have great support which demanded us to win duels and beat the pressure.
"The reaction from us [after Ipswich scored] was good, we scored a good equaliser and after that we took a step forward and were completely in control.
"[Traore] created some good moments for other players, he is in good shape, helping the team and the reason why he is playing is because he can be decisive for us if he can take the right decisions.
"But the second half was a lot more difficult for us, we were not able to control the game the way we liked. We were solid, we did not give many things away but we did not create."
'We really let ourselves down' - Coleman slams Everton after late Bournemouth collapse
Seamus Coleman acknowledged Everton "really let ourselves down" and must "look at ourselves in the mirror" following their spectacular late collapse against Bournemouth.
Sean Dyche's side, who were seeking their first points of the season, led 2-0 in the 87th minute at Goodison Park through goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
However, the hosts were undone by three crosses in the latter stages, with Antoine Semenyo pulling a goal back and Lewis Cook levelling, before Luis Sinisterra completed a sensational turnaround in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Boos rung around Goodison Park as the Toffees remained pointless and rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, and Coleman echoed the supporters' frustrations.
"We really let ourselves down in front of our fans," the skipper said. "We cannot take our foot off the gas at this level. Unfortunately, we did that.
"We cannot be conceding the goals that we did. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror."
Meanwhile, Dyche bemoaned the lack of responsibility amongst his players, as they became the first side in Premier League history to lose a game after leading by two or more goals in the 87th minute.
"We did so much right until they scored their first goal," the Everton head coach said. "The game should have been out of sight. We conceded one and then threw it away. I can't put my finger on it right now.
"They kept raining it forward and got their reward in the end. They were playing it forward and crossing it into the box, and we didn't deal with it. Simple stuff, but we threw it away. It is the third game we have thrown away this season.
"Everyone was looking at someone else to deal with things and that is when there is trouble. You could see the body language change. You have to see games through, and we have enough experience to do that, but today we didn't."
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola added: "It was the worst game we played this season. Everton deserved to win today, but the players kept pushing.
"I always have hope because this team has spirit. We have done it before and had some good comebacks. The spark of the first goal made us believe we could do it again."
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