The Premier League is back and the team that thrilled last season, taking Man City all the way to the wire, gets the action underway tonight when they take on newly-promoted Norwich at Anfield.
It’s a pretty daunting prospect for Daniel Farke and he’s under no illusion as to what’s in store against Liverpool. Talking in the Pink Un the Norwich manager said, “They [Liverpool] are one of the best teams in the world. For me, probably the best at the moment. It is the toughest task you can get to start.”
The only positive for Norwich is that Liverpool didn’t add any high-profile signings over the summer, with young centre-back Sepp van den Berg their most expensive incoming player at £1.7m.
Jurgen Klopp is happy with the squad he has, though, and doesn’t have any major injury or fitness concerns ahead of the season opener.
Goalkeeper
Liverpool signed the West Ham keeper Adrian on a free after his contract with West Ham expired this summer. He’ll be a great understudy to Alisson who is the solid number one for Klopp.
Defenders
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson both added double-digit assists last season and they’ll be looking to get off to a fast start against a Norwich side who impressed in the Championship, but only spent £1.1m strengthening this summer. Virgil van Dijk will be at centre-back and we think he’ll line-up alongside Joe Gomez, who started the Community Shield. Klopp may well go for Joel Matip but we think this will be the breakthrough season proper for Gomez.
Midfielders
Liverpool might not have signed anyone this summer but in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain they have the equivalent of a new player after he’s hardly featured since a cruciate ligament injury at the end of the 17/18 season. He might well be on the bench tonight but we’d love to see him start with Fabinho playing the holding midfielder role and affording him the freedom to roam. Jordan Henderson should get the other spot.
Attackers
Klopp gave Sadio Mane the all-clear in his press conference but he’s hardly trained after the Africa Cup of Nations and we think he’ll be the impact player off the bench, giving Divock Origi a rare start. Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah should take their normal attacking positions.
Key battle
Experienced central defender Timm Klose is out for Norwich with a hip injury and that’s likely to see Grant Hanley play in the middle. He only made 12 appearances for Norwich last season and he’s going to have his work cut out with Firmino playing up top for Liverpool.
TiF Verdict
It’s going to be a long night for Norwich fans. Liverpool will be looking to come out of the gates fast in the Premier League and we can’t see anything but a big win to nil.
Liverpool 4 – 0 Norwich
Watch it!
The game is being shown on Sky Sports in the UK and it kicks off at 8pm.
This is the starting XI we expect Klopp to put out at Anfield tonight:
