The Premier League season may be less than a month away, but as Liverpool navigate the preseason, coach Arne Slot has plenty of questions to answer, some of which showed in a chaotic 4-2 loss to Milan on Saturday. While preseason results happen in a vacuum, it doesn’t change that the Reds will look to fit in about four new starters to a title-winning squad this coming season. After coasting to the Premier League title last campaign, but not going as far as they would’ve liked in cup competitions, Liverpool have added what amount to four new starters to the squad so far this season and could add even more depending on what happens with Alexander Isak, while Luis Diaz has been linked with Bayern Munich.
Looking at a predicted XI for Liverpool in the coming campaign, assuming Diaz leaves, it’d look something like this:
Liverpool predicted XI: Alisson, Miloz Kerekez, Virgil Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Jeremie Frimpong, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Domink Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike
That’s a lot of new faces to integrate in less than a month, and quite a few where their best roles aren’t in positions that Liverpool have in their standard 4-3-3 setup. Gravenberch can offer some flexibility moving between midfield and defense, but when multiple players are at their best in a 3-4-3, that seems like where the Reds will eventually migrate to. The issue is in a tight Premier League race, Slot has to press the right buttons once again with a target on their back, while staving off expected improved competition from Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City.
Playing in the Premier League means constant retooling to stay at the top, which is why there’s more pressure on Slot in this coming season than there was last season. Replacing Jurgen Klopp, the Reds were expected to take a step back but Slot’s ability to create a repeatable system put them out ahead in the league by January, and it was one that they wouldn’t relinquish, keeping teams at bay duriging the second half of the campaign even as their own form dipped.
This time around, there’s already data on what Liverpool wants to do, and with Trent Alexander-Arnold now in Madrid, chance creation will need to shift further up the pitch. Wirtz can bring that, but with Leverkusen, he was used as a dual 10 to ensure that he got on the ball to make things happen.
Last season, Liverpool didn’t really use a 10, and at least to start this campaign, they still may not with Wirtz starting versus Milan as a striker. Being that high up the pitch, he can be blocked out of the game, and the Reds could suffer as a result. The expectations on Wirtz are high, but he’s also still 22 and can’t do it all by himself, which is where Slot’s adjustments will have to come into play. Expectations are high with how much has been invested to keep Liverpool at the top of the league, but now it’s on Slot to make the required adjustments in a short time to keep them there.
