With Jurgen Klopp admitting that Liverpool may need to promote from within this summer, here’s what to expect from the Reds’ first match of 2020/21.
The 2019/20 season will go down as one of the most memorable in Liverpool’s history as they finally won the Premier League title at the 28th time of asking. But after a very short close season Jurgen Klopp’s men are back at work and looking to mount a defence of their crown.
Just five weeks after their 3-1 victory over Newcastle United ended a glorious season the Reds will be back in the hunt for silverware as they face FA Cup winners Arsenal in the Community Shield.
Liverpool’s usual pre-season destinations of North America or Asia were not an option this year and the squad have instead spent the last week in the small town of Saalfelden in Austria. With no quarantine restrictions for travellers returning to the UK from Austria everyone involved will be available for Saturday’s game at Wembley as they look to start their season with another trophy.
While staying in an isolated camp in the Austrian mountains Liverpool played two friendly matches, beating Stuttgart 3-0 and managing a 2-2 draw with RB Salzburg. As we prepare for the return of English football this weekend, here’s how Liverpool’s title defence is shaping up…
Little change for the champions
As you would expect of a team who won the league with a club-record points total there will not be sweeping changes at Anfield ahead of the new season. In both pre-season fixtures Liverpool lined up in their familiar 4-3-3 formation with the majority of the same players from the last campaign. One enforced change was the introduction of young right-back Neco Williams in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold who did not travel with the team after picking up a minor injury.
Another missing cog in Liverpool’s well-oiled machine was captain Jordan Henderson as he recovers from a knee injury that saw him miss the end of last season. In his place Gini Wijnaldum and Curtis Jones started one game each alongside Fabinho and Naby Keita, suggesting that Jones could be in line for more starts next season.
The 19-year-old Liverpudlian scored three times in ten first team outings last year and was described as a “decisive” player by the Liverpool boss. With Wijnaldum strongly linked with a move to Barcelona to link up with his former national team coach Ronald Koeman, Jones may soon find himself further up the Anfield pecking order.
Youngsters drafted in as defensive reinforcements
Liverpool moved quickly to sign left-back Kostas Tsimikas to provide cover for Andy Robertson but they are yet to replace DejanLovren who left for Zenit Saint Petersburg this summer. With Joel Matip still suffering from a foot problem picked up last season Liverpool’s only fit senior centre backs are Virgil van Djik and Joe Gomez. Van Djik was the only Liverpool player to play in every minute of every league game last season but he was forced off in the recent friendly against Salzburg having sustained a nasty looking cut to his head. Klopp confirmed in the post-match that the injury is not serious but it served to highlight theirlack of depth in that department.
Van Djik’s replacement in Austria was 23-year-old Nathaniel Phillips who has made just one senior appearance for the club and has just returned from a loan spell in the German second tier. Also featuring in defence were the highly-rated Dutch duo of Ki-Jana Hoever and Sepp van den Berg, but with both still only 18-years-old can Klopp trust them to start games in the Premier League?
The same goes for 17-year-old Billy Koumetio who caught Klopp’s eye with impressive cameos in both games. The youngster, already 6’3”, was reportedly doing one-on-one sessions with Klopp on the tour but is yet to feature in a competitive fixture for the first team. The Liverpool boss has repeatedly insisted that he does not see Liverpool making many major signings this summer so these young defenders could soon be thrust into the spotlight if the Reds are unlucky with injuries.
Brewster stakes his case for first-team role
Liverpool’s prolific front three of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah started both games in Austria but it was another forward who took the headlines with three goals in two games. Rhian Brewster is yet to start a Premier League game for the club but he impressed during his loan spell at Swansea City last season, scoring 11 goals in 22 appearances. Brewster was tipped for great things at Anfield after winning the Golden Boot at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup but an ankle injury suffered in 2018 saw him miss a full year of football.
Brewster is a classic number nine, an archetypal poacher in a way that Roberto Firmino is not and he would certainly not replace the Brazilian in the starting XI. But his confidently-taken strikes suggest that he could be a useful option off the bench with Klopp describing him as a “natural goal-scorer” after his brace against Salzburg. DivockOrigiand XherdanShaqiri have been Liverpool’s main attacking reinforcements in recent years but with neither involved in the pre-season fixtures it looks like their days at Anfield could be numbered.