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It may still feel like pre-season has only just begun, but we’re now just over a couple of weeks away from Liverpool getting its Premier League title defense underway.
Having been beaten by AC Milan in Hong Kong, the Reds will move on to Japan now ahead of Wednesday’s game against Yokohama F. Marinos. From there, they’ll return to Anfield for a double header against Athletic Bilbao, before facing Crystal Palace in the Community Shield at Wembley.
Then, before you know it, the Premier League is back, with Liverpool kicking the season off at home to Bournemouth on August 15. Before then, Arne Slot still has plenty of decisions to make, and he will have been given plenty to think about after yesterday’s defeat.
These preseason games are, of course, not a lot more than a warm-up exercise for players to get some much-needed minutes into their legs, and a defeat to Milan isn’t going to determine whether Liverpool will be successful or not in its title defense next season.
Considering it was their biggest test so far this summer, though, Slot will have been paying more attention to his players’ performance than he might have done in previous games against Preston and Stoke, and it would be fair to say some players did more for their chances of making that opening day team against Bournemouth than others.
If we were to predict Slot’s first team of the season proper based on what we’ve seen so far, there may well be one or two players missing out that people might not expect.
First off, in goal, Alisson Becker has to remain the No.1.
The Brazilian made his first appearance of the summer yesterday, and he didn’t really put a foot wrong. The same can’t be said for Giorgi Mamardashvili, who did not cover himself in glory as he and Kostas Tsimikas gifted Milan a fourth goal.
In defense, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate retain their usual spots at the heart of the defense. In truth, the former didn’t have his best game yesterday, although with Joe Gomez picking up another injury, it’s not like there’s anyone else to start at center-back.
The full-back positions are an interesting case, and if we’re going off what we’ve seen so far, you’d probably have to say that Andy Robertson is leading Milos Kerkez for the left-back berth. As for the right, we’d probably go with Jeremie Frimpong at the moment, although his battle with Conor Bradley is still very close.
Moving into midfield, and with Ryan Gravenberch suspended for the opening day, Dominik Szoboszlai will surely be in contention to start, with the Hungarian impressing so far this summer.
Alexis Mac Allister’s fitness is still a concern after missing another game, and while he may not be far away from a return, at the moment, you would have to side with Curtis Jones to start alongside Szoboszlai. We’ll wait and see how quickly Mac Allister can get up to speed once he’s back.
With two impressive performances in the tank now, Florian Wirtz earns his spot as the No. 10, while Cody Gakpo is certainly deserving of a start on the left after adding another goal against Milan.
Mohamed Salah will inevitably take his usual spot on the right, although he hasn’t quite hit his usual mark so far this summer, while the No. 9 offers up an interesting conundrum.
Based on performances so far this summer, it would be impossible to ignore Darwin Nunez, although there’s every chance he won’t even be at Anfield for that opening game. Therefore, despite not having played a single minute yet, we’ll go with Hugo Ekitike, although that could be subject to change, especially if Alexander Isak manages to force a move through.
Predicted Liverpool team to start the season: Alisson Becker; Jeremie Frimpong, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson; Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai; Mohamed Salah, Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo; Hugo Ekitike.
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