Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool and England's Bazballers hampered by sluggish starts

You only get one chance to make a first impression. Sorry, that's a terrible opening line – the kind of thing you hear when you're cornered in a pub by some beered-up recruitment consultant who's been banned from LinkedIn for posting misogynistic jokes.

Ignore that and let's have a re-rack so I can share some thoughts on how crucial it is to make a strong start. No, please don't walk away – this will get better, I promise. It has to.

As my attention span is steadily eroded by smartphone use, I'm increasingly attracted to betting markets focusing on the early exchanges of matches and tournaments: first goalscorer, highest total in the first six overs, first-round leader, first-set winner, the race to be top of the league table at Christmas.

Two venerable sporting institutions – the England Test team and Liverpool Football Club – are on the naughty list when it comes to these markets due to their habits of stumbling out of the traps recently.

England's second Test against South Africa starts at Old Trafford on Thursday and they are hoping to bounce back from last week's thumping defeat to the Proteas at Lord's.

In England's two innings at HQ they lost their first wicket with the score at six and 20, which is pretty much par for the course in the decade since Andrew Strauss's retirement ended his illustrious opening alliance with Alastair Cook.

Of course, Strauss and Cook had their failures – they were dismissed for one and three in their final innings together (in another Lord's loss to South Africa) – but more often than not they provided a sturdy foundation for a hugely successful England team.

Opening the batting in Test cricket is one of the hardest jobs in sport, as a ragged army of discarded England batters have demonstrated over the past ten years, but Strauss and Cook offered a sense of stability and security, not just for the team but for the nation.

The two left-handers amassed 5,253 runs in 132 innings batting together, making them the fifth-most prolific partnership in Test history.

I'm not suggesting the Strauss-Cook axis was the glue holding our fragile planet together but since they were parted we've had Brexit, Trump, pandemics, wars and economic crises. As Matt Le Tissier might say, it makes you think.

England's latest struggling opener Zak Crawley has been backed by Brendon McCullum despite the coach's admission that "his skill set is not to be a consistent cricketer".

Some cynics might point out that Crawley is actually one of England's most consistent performers, nicking off to slip for single-figure scores with the regularity of a Swiss clock.

It may not fit the ethos of England's ultra-aggressive 'Bazball' approach to Test cricket but most home supporters would be content with a couple of understated first-wicket stands of 50-odd in Manchester this week.

A solid opening partnership settles a nervous dressing room, sets the tone of the contest and deflates the opposition, and the same applies to an early goal in a football match.

Remarkably, Liverpool have bestowed that precious gift on their last seven Premier League opponents, conceding the opening goal in the 16th, 32nd, 32nd, third, 13th, third and 56th minutes.

The Reds won three and drew three of the first six games in that sequence but going 1-0 down every week is not sustainable, as they discovered at Manchester United on Monday.

Had Liverpool struck the first blow at Old Trafford, United would surely have crumbled in front of a hostile home crowd haunted by this season's defeats to Brighton and Brentford and last term's 5-0 and 4-0 routs against Jurgen Klopp's men.

Instead, Jadon Sancho put the Red Devils ahead inside the first 20 minutes, Erik ten Hag was vindicated in his decision to drop Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire, and the usually ebullient Klopp was left looking like one-third of a disgruntled Bee Gees tribute act who have just had their daily food and drink allowance slashed by a miserly cruise-ship entertainment manager.

Depending on temperament, bettors may lean towards fast-starting or slow-burning teams. Some in-play punters are happy to back sides such as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United, who seemed to wake up only once they'd gone 1-0 or 2-0 down, or Wolves, whose earliest goal in their three Premier League seasons under Nuno Espirito Santo was scored in the 68th minute (that statistic may not be strictly true but it feels right, which is arguably more important).

Less patient bettors may be inclined to latch on to teams on a streak like Arsenal's this season as the Gunners have opened the scoring in the 20th, 23rd and fifth minutes of their first three league fixtures.

Anyone backing Mikel Arteta's side at Bournemouth last time out could have collected inside 11 minutes thanks to bet365's excellent early-payout offer on teams who go two goals ahead.

In terms of cheering home a bet nothing can match a comeback like Werder Bremen's Bundesliga miracle at Borussia Dortmund last weekend – winning 3-2 after trailing 2-0 in the 89th minute – but there's also pleasure to be had in a stress-free punt on a team who blast out of the blocks and have the points signed, sealed and delivered by half-time.

Obviously, a winning bet at 3-1 pays the same whether the horse leads from pillar to post or gets up on the line under a Jamie Spencer special. After all, a winner is a winner is a winner.

Apologies, what a lousy sign-off. Can I have another crack at it? No, you're quite right – you only get one chance to make a last impression and I've gone and messed it up …

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