Are Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool Coming Back With the Vengeance 2022/2023?

Liverpool, this season 2022/2023, must come back stronger and better a run that saw them fail by a point in the Premier League, lose their second Champions League Final under Jurgen Klopp, and win the EFL Cup and FA Cup for the first time under the German.

It will not be easy to replicate a quadruple-run campaign, where they play right until the final game of every competition available to a club from the English top flight. Making it that much harder to accomplish, they’ve lost one of their most consistent and reliable gems in Sadio Mane.

But not to fear, work has been done in the summer transfer window to fill the holes left by others and add depth to some departments. However, the real questions are: has there been enough work done for them to finally overtake Manchester City in the title race, win the UCL, and/or safeguard their English cups from others?

Liverpool’s Mixed Bag of Results

The Reds’ preseason comes with many pros and an equal amount of cons; their biggest takeaway is the Community Shield victory over closest title rivals, Manchester City. Added to this was a four-goal haul from their most expensive signing in history, Darwin Nunez, who was also a second-half hero in winning his side’s first piece of silverware.

With this, were the standout performances of the youngsters, as well as their Egyptian King, who appeared to have turned up the heat a the right moments during his warm-up run; the contract extension appears to have done the trick.

Talking about the youngsters, the good performances also came at a cost with many errors and mistakes leading to goals and ultimately to the games they lost in their preparations for the 2022/2023 Premier League campaign.

Reds’ Preseason Results

Manchester United 4-0 Liverpool
Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace
RB Leipzig 0-5 Liverpool
RB Salzburg 1-0 Liverpool
Liverpool 3-1 Manchester City
Liverpool 3-0 RC Strasbourg Alsace

Who Will Be Key This Season for Liverpool

Besides needing Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Roberston to perform week in and out alongside Mo Salah and Luis Diaz, the most important Reds in Klopp’s team have to be: Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho.

The pair will have to stay fit for large portions of the campaign. Last season the team occasionally struggle without either man on the pitch, or if they were missing simultaneously. Thiago started 17 games while Fabinho started 26 out of the 38-game EPL run. This was due to injury and perhaps being rested for other important clashes, as Klopp rotated a lot last season.

Alisson needs to make sure he stays injury free if they are to push for any sort of silverware this season. Caoimhin Kelleher appears to be injured more often than not. One doesn’t see Adrian fit for the job as the Reds’ number 1 if both keepers are missing from team selection.

Most Important Players in Order

1. Thiago Alcantara
2. Fabinho
3. Alisson
4. Virgil van Dijk
5. Trend
6. Robbo
7. Mo Salah
8. Luis Diaz
9. The bench

The Anfield Bench

The cup squads and bench players played a huge role in Liverpool’s domestic success last run out but now with most of their reliable hitmen in Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino gone, they will have to rely on the youngsters to come to the party.

Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho, both standout players in the preseason, will have the duty of being impact players for the manager. They have shown the quality that they are more than capable of doing the job, but how consistent can they be, perhaps forcing their way into the starting XI?

The jury is still out on newcomer, Calvin Ramsay. Missing for the entire preseason, he still hasn’t taken the field as a Red since making his move from Aberdeen. Eager to see if he is better than Neco Willams and fills in seamlessly for TAA.

Nunez will have the pressure of the record-breaking price tag weighing heavily on him. He will have to play above it and prove his doubters wrong with a string of good performances.

Conclusion

Liverpool will claim a trophy this season, and it might be one of the big ones perhaps: Premier League or Champions League. However, one does not see them going all the way on all fronts as they did last season, possibly going out early in the other cup competitions; one or maybe both.

There are a lot of new parts to Klopp’s machine, so getting them to gel as one unit will take priority this season. If the first-choice players can stay fit, it could be a very rewarding campaign for them.

The last question left: did they do enough work in the transfer window? With the recent injury list, one believes that they have missed a reinforcement in one position, the midfield. The Reds required a new midfielder who could fight for a starting position.

First up for Jurgen Klopp and the boys is a trip to Craven Cottage for their opener against Fulham. Kickoff time: 12:30 BST.

Join The Top Flight’s FPL League and use the code: whwwyp