Liverpool will face Ipswich Town on the opening day of the new Premier League season with Arne Slot’s first fixture in charge now just 45 days away. Before then, though, there is plenty to be done with pre-season still to begin.
Earlier today, it was confirmed that Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo would NOT be heading to the Olympic Games in Paris which will be a major boost to the Reds’ preparations. Stefan Bajcetic had already been left out of the Spain squad for the same tournament because he needs as much time on the training ground this summer as possible after his lengthy injury.
And that means that all three players will be with Liverpool as it prepares for the new campaign. There are matches in the US and at Anfield to get ready for the real stuff starting and plenty of hours will be spent in Kirkby on fitness and tactics. With 11 players still at the Copa America or European Championship, it was vital that no more disruption was caused beyond that.
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Liverpool still has lots of things to work out this summer including transfers and contracts but most of the team that lines up on the opening day can be predicted fairly easily. Alisson Becker will be in goal and Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Alexis Mac Allister are all certain to start, assuming they are fit.
There are decisions to be made at center-back where Jarell Quansah and Ibrahima Konate will jostle for a place (and a new signing in that position to replace Joel Matip is a must too). In midfield, it remains to be seen how Slot will set up but Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai are among the options as number eights. Mac Allister or Endo could play as the holder.
Cody Gakpo has impressed hugely off the left for the Netherlands at Euro 2024 while there remain question marks about Darwin Nunez in terms of his clinicalness. Diogo Jota’s only issue is injuries and Luis Diaz is still of interest to Barcelona but Salah will start off the right. Anthony Gordon would be a dream transfer option down the left flank but it remains to be seen how realistic a deal like that might be for Liverpool this summer.
In terms of a line-up for the start of the Slot era, then, it is mostly fairly simple. Alisson will be in goal, with Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk and Robertson a likely back four. Elliott or Szoboszlai to the right of Mac Allister in midfield and Jones to the left would seem realistic, with a front line of Diaz, Jota and Salah. If, say, Leny Yoro was signed or Liverpool was able to snap up Gordon, they could perhaps come into the side. For now, though, the full extent of the transfer plan is yet to be revealed.
Liverpool.com says: There can be no playing down just how important it is for Liverpool to have Salah and Endo available. If they were in France for the Olympics, they would only return to Merseyside with a week to go until the Ipswich game and would have missed all the preparation games. That was clearly never going to be ideal.