Premier League Preview 2019-20: Liverpool FC
Liverpool Football Club
Credit: Liverpool FC
2018-19 Premier League Finish: 2nd place
2019-20 Premier League Prediction: 1st place
Transfers In:
Sepp van den Berg DF - PEC Zwolle £1,300,000
Harvey Elliott FW - Fulham, Undisclosed
Transfers Out:
Danny Ings FW - Southampton £18,000,000
Rafael Camacho MF - Sporting CP £5,000,000
Daniel Sturridge FW - Free Agent
Alberto Moreno DF - Villarreal, Free Agent
Liverpool are as an established Premier League club as any that you’d come across. The upcoming season is Liverpool’s 58th consecutive season in top flight football in England and many of those seasons they were crowned champs. The only issue is that has not been the case as of late, or nearly 30 years. The 70s and 80s were dominated by Liverpool but they have failed to capture that elusive Premier League title, and haven’t been crowned champs of England since the 1989-90 season. Despite the fact that Liverpool have won FA Cup titles, League Cup titles and even 2 Champions League titles, they just can’t find a way to get their hands on the Premier League title. Even with a whopping 97 pts scored last season, they still came up just 1 point shy of the title. In only 1 other season in Premier League history would 97 pts not have secured Liverpool the title. So is this the year that Liverpool can finally achieve that goal? This Liverpool team is as good of a team that they’ve had in arguably decades. Back to back Champions League finals, with a trophy to show for it. Klopp has this team firing on all cylinders and they are incredibly talented. Worst case scenario for this team is still inside the top 4 in my opinion and probably 4th. Best case scenario is obviously the title, and that’s the one I’m going with. Liverpool break their Premier League title drought 30 years after their last title.
They’ll be singing this at Anfield after lifting the Premier League trophy:
Strength:
Virgil van Dijk
Credit: TalkSport
The entire team. Seriously though, the team is loaded from top to bottom and if I had to pick one stand-out, it has to be the defense which is led by none other than Virgil van Dijk. Since van Dijk has joined Liverpool, their defense has transformed into elite status. Last year was van Dijk’s first full season with the club and he started all 38 Premier League matches and led the defense to a Premier League’s best of only 22 goals conceded. While it’s not quite 2004-05 Chelsea’s defense, it’s still incredibly impressive. Virgil van Dijk, to nobody’s surprise, would also go on to be named Premier League Player of the year last season. Lining up along side van Dijk was a combination of Joel Matip, Joe Gomez or Dejan Lovren, which just speaks to van Dijk’s ability to pair up with multiple center backs and form a formidable pairing. Then of course joining them in defense is Andrew Robertson at LB and Trent Alexander-Arnold at RB. At only 25 and 20 years old, not only do these 2 have a great future ahead, they are some of the best full backs in the Premier League at the moment. Liverpool have struck gold with their additions over the past few seasons and that is largely why they are going to win the title this season and their great defense is going to lead the charge.
Weakness:
Salah, Firmino & Mane
Credit: Sportskeeda
Look, Liverpool doesn’t have a weakness. So when I say that their attack is their weakness, just know that I’m being incredibly nitpicky. In my opinion, Liverpool’s attack needs to be more consistent throughout the season if they are going to win the title. Liverpool scored 89 goals last year which was good for 2nd place in the league and 3rd place wasn’t even close. The issue is, Liverpool had quite a few games that inflated those numbers like multiple 5 and 4 goals games. Liverpool scored 4 or more goals 9 times last season. Then you had the run of games between January 30th and March 3rd last season that cost them the title. They scored 10 goals in 6 games over that period, but 8 of those goals came in the Bournemouth and Watford game. They scored 1 goal in each of the Leicester City and West Ham games for a 1-1 tie and then were shutout in both the Manchester United and Everton game for a 0-0 tie. Liverpool would have won the title had they scored 1 more goal in any of those 4 games. In my opinion, Liverpool needs to bring in a reliable striker as they really don’t even have one at the moment. Their two biggest goalscorers play on the wing and Firmino, who plays as striker most, is more of a CAM(central attacking midfielder) rather than an out and out striker. Again, not bashing the Liverpool attack in any way, just being nitpicky and pointing out that they need to be more consistent across all games and not just the blowouts.
Top Goalscorer Predictions:
Mohamed Salah: 25 goals
Sadio Mane: 18 goals
Roberto Firmino: 16 goals
Home Kit: This is a really nice home jersey for Liverpool. Nothing too off the wall or any crazy designs, just a classy home kit. Also I like the white pinstripes.
Credit: Liverpool FC Store
Away Kit: Liverpool might have the best home and away combo in the league, or at least the teams we’ve reviewed so far. It’s not shown in the picture but the shorts are navy blue and this away kit looks really nice.
Credit: Liverpool FC Store
Previous Teams:
Thanny