After losing at West Bromwich Albion last week, Liverpool face a difficult task on Sunday as they face Premier League champions Manchester City.
The optimism of pre-season was dealt a severe blow when Brendan Rodgers’s first game ended in a 3-0 defeat in which Daniel Agger was sent off.
It might have been worse, too, had Shane Long not missed a penalty.
“It’s not the start we wanted but it’s no time for panic,” said captain Steven Gerrard, who should return after being rested for the Europa League trip to Heart of Midlothian on Thursday.
“It’s only the first game and it was one bad day at the office.
“We’ve got to look at the bigger picture. There’s been so much hope around the place and rightly so.
“It’s important that the likes of myself and the other experienced players take responsibility for a poor defeat. We have to put it behind us.”
City will be without forward Sergio Aguero who is out for a month after damaging his knee in the 3-2 win over Southampton last week.
Sunday’s other game sees Arsenal looking for their first goal of the season as they travel to Stoke City.
Manchester United will also be looking to ignite their season after a disappointing start. They lost 1-0 at Everton and host Fulham, who were 5-0 winners over Norwich City.
“We’ve lost our first match in the past and finished well so hopefully we can win our next game and go on a long run,” said Nemanja Vidic, who is again likely to be partnered in central defence by midfielder Michael Carrick.
Jonny Evans, Rio Ferdinand, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling are all injured.
Everton go to Aston Villa, while Norwich face another team who lost 5-0 on the opening weekend, Queen’s Park Rangers, who hope to have completed the signings of defenders Michael Dawson and Ricardo Carvalho in time for them to play.
Swansea City, the team who beat QPR, face West Ham United in their first home game under new manager Michael Laudrup.
League leaders Chelsea, who beat Reading on Wednesday to go top having played a game more than their rivals, are at home to Newcastle United, who themselves started impressively with a 2-1 win at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham host West Brom in their first game at home under Andre Villas-Boas, while Wigan Athletic go to newly promoted Southampton.
