Premier League Team Focus: Liverpool Ready for Another Title Battle
Born in the south east of Ireland, Simon put his life-long love of football to good use when he started a successful independent blog in 2010. That opened up an alternative route to a career in journalism, and having had work published across a number of sites and publications, Simon joined the staff at Spotlight Sports Group in 2018.
After their incredible efforts last season, Liverpool supporters could be forgiven for thinking that their club will never get their hands on the Premier League title.
Alongside their sensational success on the continent, Liverpool amassed a staggering 97 points in the league – a total that would have guaranteed them the title they crave in 25 of the last 27 seasons.
Maintaining the sort of form that saw them lose just 1 of their 38 matches last term could prove difficult in 2019/20 however.
Like many of Europe’s top clubs, identifying players that could genuinely improve the team is proving a frustratingly difficult task.
With the pool of available talent decidedly shallow, Jurgen Klopp faces starting the new campaign with the same side that finished the last – and standing still can be a dangerous thing in football.
Find out how we think Liverpool will fare this season in our Premier League Outright Betting Tips and Predictions.
Position last season: 2nd
Top scorer: Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah – 22 goals.
Key Stats:
- Liverpool were the only team to have an unbeaten home record in the Premier League last season
- Only Man City (38) scored more goals away from home in the league than Liverpool (34) last season.
- Liverpool scored more goals in the final 15 minutes of their games (25) than any other team in the league last term.
- Trent Alexander-Arnold set up 12 goals for Liverpool in 2018/19; the most assists notched by a defender in a single Premier League season.
Transfers
Arrivals
Sepp van den Berg – PEC Zwolle – £1.7m
Departures
Danny Ings – Southampton – £19.98m
Sheyi Ojo – Rangers – Loan
Daniel Sturridge – released
Adam Bogdan – released
Connor Randall – released
Alberto Moreno – released
Keep up to date with all the latest transfer news daily here, and find a list of every confirmed Premier League transfer here.
Possible Line-Up
Player to Watch
Naby Keita
After a frustrating first year on Merseyside, explosive Guinean midfielder Naby Keita will hope to draw on his debut season experience to make the most of his untapped potential in 2019/20.
Keita had started to force his way into the first team reckoning at Liverpool towards the backend of last season before injury curtailed his progress, and the 24-year old has all the ability he needs to establish himself as a key player for Jurgen Klopp this term.
The Season Ahead
Over-reliance on van Dijk?
Even though Liverpool made Virgil van Dijk the world’s most expensive defender when they paid £75m to prise the giant centre-half from Southampton in 2018, the Dutchman’s performance in Red have made the colossal fee look like a bargain.
Alongside van Dijk’s own consistently imperious individual displays, the 28-year old seems to drag his defensive teammates performance levels to new heights through his presence in the side alone.
Van Dijk’s fitness record has so far been exceptional; however, you get the feeling that an injury to the current PFA Player of the Years could have enormous ramifications for Liverpool.
Light attacking options
While Liverpool’s devastating attacking trident of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino is undeniably one of football’s most fearsome frontlines, Jurgen Klopp has little in the way of backup for his first-choice trio.
Belgian striker Divock Origi plays the role of cult hero rather than quality reserve, though his habit of popping up with unexpected moments in big games has certainly been useful, while Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri hasn’t made the impact many would have hoped after his move from Stoke last year.
Beyond that, Liverpool are banking on Salah, Mane and Firmino maintaining the staggering aversion to injury that saw them miss just 7 Premier League matches between them last term.
Click here to find out when all our 2019/20 Season Outright Betting Tips will be released
Youngsters ready to shine?
There is hope however, that a number of Liverpool’s most promising young players can make the jump to first team prominence in 2019/20.
Prolific youth team striker Rhian Brewster’s pathway to senior side involvement looks much clearer now after the departures of Daniel Sturridge and Danny Ings, while there are also high hopes for 17-year old Dutch defender Ki-Jana Hoever who became the youngster player to feature for the club in the FA Cup last season.
Talented midfielder Curtis Jones, who made his first team debut in the same game as However, is also one to watch, as is left-back and under 18s captain Adam Lewis, who has been tipped to take Alberto Moreno’s spot as Andy Robertson’s understudy.
Liverpool Betting Tips
Liverpool to Win the Premier League (without Man City) at 8/15
Maintaining the level of performances that saw them come within touching distance of the Premier League title last season will be a monumental task for Jurgen Klopp’s men, but even when not at their best you would fancy them against any of the other Big Six.
You only need to glance at least season’s final standings – Liverpool finished a massive 25 points ahead of 3rd placed Chelsea, and with The Blues losing Eden Hazard this summer it’s unlikely they’ll find themselves challenging the Merseysiders. It’s hard to see Spurs, Arsenal, or Manchester United getting close to them either, so backing them for another 2nd place finish looks the best bet.
Liverpool Top Premier League Goalscorer – Sadio Mane at 3/1
2 of Liverpool’s dynamic attacking trident topped the Premier League scoring charts last season, with Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sharing the Golden Boot award having netted 22 goals apiece.
Despite the Liverpool duo’s stalemate in the goals department, Salah is priced up as the huge favourite to be Liverpool’s top scorer in the league. The Egyptian even played 2 more games than his Senegalese counterpart last term, so backing Mane to outscore Salah looks a fantastic value bet at 3/1.
Liverpool to be top of the Premier League on Christmas Day at 6/4
Liverpool completed an unwanted hattrick last season, when they failed to win the Premier League despite topping the table on Christmas Day.
That scenario has played out just 3 times in the last 11 years in England’s top flight, with the other 8 festive season table toppers all going on to lift the title in May – unfortunately for the Reds, they were responsible for all 3 trend bucking anomalies.
We think there is value in backing Jurgen Klopp’s charges to be top at Christmas time this year again, though we do expect the Merseysiders to fall short in the race for Premier League glory again.
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