Liverpool’s season preview

Liverpool commence the season with a trip to Wembley to play Manchester City in the Community Shield. This will be their first real test of the season and will give an early indication of whether Liverpool can keep up with City again. The match is still a pre-season trophy that does not have much bearing, but it is still a psychological boost for whoever wins. Liverpool will probably not be able to count on Mane as he will just be returning from holiday after his exploits in the African Cup of Nations, but apart from that should have everyone fit to play.

Liverpool have not had the best of pre-season to prepare for the new Premier League campaign. For much of the pre-season, they did not have a full squad as many players were away at international tournaments which slightly disrupted the squad. Liverpool were without a win in four matches, after losing to Dortmund, Sevilla, and Napoli as well as drawing with Sporting Lisbon. However, they ended on a positive when in their last match, when they beat Lyon 3-1. Liverpool standout performers in the pre-season are youngsters who have not really been given a first-team chance yet. Wilson and Brewster have been particularly good with the former looking to leave the club and the latter is finally going to be promoted to first-team duties.

Liverpool have not signed any major players this season with their only two acquisitions being teenagers. The only club in the Premier League to spend less this season is Crystal Palace who have not signed anyone yet. Liverpool are looking to build on last season with the current squad. With various new young additions to come in and with the likes of Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lallana coming back after having injury-hit campaigns, Klopp feels his squad is good enough to challenge again. The big six rivals have all spent, and even Chelsea who have a transfer embargo on the spent 40 million on Kovacic loan move permanent. Both City and Arsenal have broken their transfer records on new signings. it remains to be seen if not signing any major players will be fine this season for Liverpool or whether it will come back to haunt them later in the season when the fixtures pile up.