Less than three months after disappointment in Kiev, Jurgen Klopp and his transfer bolstered Liverpool side get their season under way at home to Manuel Pellegrini’s new look West Ham.
The Reds come into the new campaign with several new faces, two of which address problem areas which have been apparent for a fair few years. The £44m signing of Fabinho from Monaco gives the Merseysiders that much needed anchor and balance that they’ve arguably been lacking since Javier Mascherano left the club almost eight years ago.
Furthermore, the then world record arrival of Alisson Becker looks set to clear a more evident issue in the starting eleven. Loris Karius’ Madrid mayhem was followed by some pre-season Tranmere trauma which left Klopp with no option but to invest heavily on a new ‘keeper, and he did just that by paying Roma £66m for the Brazilian shotstopper.
Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri complete the Reds incomings this window and their early pre-season appearances has wet the appetites for many of the Kop faithful. The former, an exciting and energetic midfielder with a specialty of breaking down deep blocks. The latter, a frustrating but unpredictable player who certainly isn’t short of ability or talent. The four signings take the club’s summer spending to over £175m and leaves high expectations going into the next ten months.
Sunday’s opponents West Ham have also spent big this summer, splashing out over £80m on the likes of Andriy Yarmolenko, Felipe Anderson, Issa Diop and Lukasz Fabianski. The addition of Jack Wilshere on a free is certainly one that can’t be looked past as well, as he looks get back to his best following years of injury struggles.
In my opinion though their biggest signing of the window by far is the appointment of Premier League winning manager Manuel Pellegrini, so long as owners David Gold and David Sullivan let him get on with the job and give him the backing he needs. We’ve seen already in only his first transfer window that a big name like the former Manchester City manager can attract higher quality players and this surely can only get better in the future if they can have a solid year.
Predicted Liverpool line-up
Despite only being with the squad a couple of weeks, Alisson is almost certain to make his league debut at the weekend. The only thing up in the air at the moment is will he claim Loris Karius’ number one shirt or will he have to stick to the unlucky thirteen? I’m not sure Liverpool fans will be overly bothered when they have one of the best goalkeepers in the world on their books though.
Nathaniel Clyne has impressed in pre-season as he looks to get back to his old self and he may just get the nod ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold who only returned back to training recently. Likewise, World Cup finalist Dejan Lovren isn’t reported to be ready just yet so Joe Gomez seems set to start alongside Virgil Van Dijk with last season’s cult hero Andy Robertson likely to complete the back four.
Although many will want to see new man Fabinho start, it may take the Brazilian a few weeks to get used to the demands of Premier League football so it wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t start. Naby Keita will be pivotal against sides that come and sit deep at Anfield and the former RB Leipzig midfielder is more than capable of linking the midfield to the front three which is something the Reds have struggled with in the past. The last midfield spot for me would go to Gini Wijnaldum. The presence of Fabinho will give the Dutchman allowance to break forward and join the attacks, something which he hasn’t always been able to do when playing deep.
Salah, Firmino and Mane. No explanation needed.
Alisson; Clyne, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Keita, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane
Prediction
The key for the home side here is to get off to a positive and settle the early nerves. That deadly and famous front three contributed to fifty-seven of Liverpool’s eighty-four league goals last season and they will be hoping to once again hit the ground running. The Hammers conceded four times on both of the occasions they faced Jurgen Klopp’s side last season, but they are far better equipped now to prevent that from happening again. The East London side do have a potential dangerous trio of their own in Felipe Anderson, Andriy Yarmolenko and Marko Arnautovic if they’re all able to click together from the off. Club record signing Felipe Anderson in particular is a player who could cause huge problems if he shows up, but inconsistency has been a problem in his career.
Liverpool 3-1 West Ham United
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