Category: Exclusive

With a new manager in the Anfield dugout for the first time since 2015, Liverpool’s 2024-25 Premier League season is set to be intriguing. As the season kicks off, here are five key talking points for Arne Slot’s team.

Read More: UEFA Super Cup 2024: Real Madrid vs Atalanta – Preview and Prediction

1. Can Slot Continue Klopp’s Legacy at Liverpool?

The 2023-24 season was a dramatic one for Liverpool. After a disappointing 2022-23 campaign, the Reds mounted a strong challenge for the Premier League title, contending with Arsenal and Manchester City until the final month. This came amidst the backdrop of Jürgen Klopp’s unexpected announcement in January that he would depart at season’s end.

Though their title bid ultimately fell short and Klopp’s tenure—one of the most successful in Liverpool’s recent history—came to a close, the season was still notable. Liverpool secured a third-place finish in the Premier League, earned a spot in the UEFA Champions League, and won the EFL Cup in February, offering a solid foundation for the new manager.

The appointment of Arne Slot from Feyenoord to succeed Klopp raised a few eyebrows. Slot has impressed during pre-season, but now the real challenge begins. His playing style, characterized by high pressing, a four-man defense, and aggression, mirrors that of Klopp’s Liverpool.

However, differences are emerging, as highlighted by Curtis Jones during Liverpool’s tour of the United States. Jones noted, “We’re not rushing to attack. We need to break teams down, and when we lose the ball, we can press.”

“In the past, we were in a hurry to recover the ball, playing in a direct, up-and-down manner. Now, we aim to control possession fully and dominate the game,” he explained.

Harvey Elliott added, “It’s a very refined Dutch style, and it’s quite appealing. The approach is different; it focuses much more on maintaining possession.”

One area where Slot will need to make adjustments is in Liverpool’s defensive vulnerability. Despite having the third-best expected goals against (xG) in the Premier League last season (46.2), they were significantly behind title contenders Manchester City (35.9) and Arsenal (28.4).

This issue was exacerbated by Liverpool conceding 80 big chances—opportunities from which opponents are likely to score. This figure was on par with Everton, exceeded Newcastle United’s (79) and Nottingham Forest’s (74), and was nearly double Arsenal’s (43).

On the offensive end, Liverpool were highly creative, leading the Premier League with the highest xG of 89.3. Similarly, Slot’s Feyenoord excelled in this aspect, achieving a total of 95.2 xG from their 34 Eredivisie matches last season.

The previous season indicated that Liverpool was on the path to competing at the top again. While Slot has a significant task ahead in succeeding Klopp, he is confident in his ability to rise to the challenge.

2. How Should Trent Alexander-Arnold Be Utilized?

This question could easily be the focus of its own article, sparking as much debate in England as the age-old question of whether Jaffa Cakes are biscuits or cakes.

Trent Alexander-Arnold generates strong opinions, not due to doubts about his exceptional talent, but rather regarding the best way to deploy it.

For years, he was Klopp’s right-back, though in the last season and a half, Klopp adapted his role to a more hybrid position, allowing Alexander-Arnold to move into midfield during possession, with mixed results.

While his defensive abilities continue to be debated, Alexander-Arnold’s primary strength lies in creating chances for Liverpool. He has achieved at least 12 Premier League assists in three separate seasons, with seven in 2020-21 and nine in 2022-23. However, he recorded only four assists last season, his lowest since 2017-18, playing just 28 league games.

It’s possible that Alexander-Arnold could have had more assists if his teammates had been more clinical in front of goal. Nonetheless, his expected assist (xA) total was just 6.1, also the lowest since 2017-18 (1.7 xA).

Alexander-Arnold’s most productive Premier League season was in 2019-20, when he was an orthodox right-back. He notched 13 assists and created 87 chances across 38 appearances. The 2021-22 season was arguably even more impressive, with 12 assists from 90 chances created in just 32 league games.

There has been speculation about Alexander-Arnold’s desire to play in midfield long-term, a role he briefly occupied for England during Euro 2024 before being replaced by Conor Gallagher and Kobbie Mainoo. However, he mentioned in an interview with The Mirror after the tournament that he is flexible about his position, which should be reassuring for Slot.

Liverpool’s unsuccessful attempt to sign Real Sociedad midfielder Martín Zubimendi indicates that Slot likely envisions Alexander-Arnold as a right-back. This raises the question of whether Alexander-Arnold will be used to provide width or continue to drift into midfield.

Slot’s main right-back at Feyenoord was Lutsharel Geertruida. Unfortunately, his touch zone map isn’t fully available, as he played about three-quarters of his games on the right, occasionally appearing as a centre-back or left-back.

However, by examining Geertruida’s touch zone map from the final game of the season against Excelsior, when he played as a right-back, we can compare it to Alexander-Arnold’s overall map.

It appears the Dutchman was also tasked with moving centrally, although it’s worth noting that he is quite different from Alexander-Arnold in terms of playing style. This raises the question of how Slot will choose to utilize the England international.

Perhaps that’s the very reason we’ve posed this question.

3. Can Liverpool Maintain Fitness for Key Players?

Injuries are an inevitable part of football, but some teams are more affected than others. Fans of Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Newcastle will attest to how injuries can significantly impact a team’s performance.

While some view injuries as a legitimate reason for poor form and others as an excuse, it’s uncommon to see a successful team that has frequently missed key players throughout the season.

Liverpool faced their share of injury issues in 2023-24, not necessarily through major injuries to individual players but through frequent absences across the squad. Captain Virgil van Dijk (36) was the only player to start more than 32 Premier League games for Klopp’s side. In contrast, six Arsenal players started at least 34 league games.

Some absences were due to non-injury factors; Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo participated in mid-season international tournaments, while Luis Díaz was understandably affected by the kidnapping of his parents (who were fortunately safely released). Notably, Díaz and Alexis Mac Allister were the only players besides Van Dijk to start more than 28 league games for Liverpool in 2023-24.

Slot emphasizes player fitness and aims for his backroom staff to manage workloads to minimize the risk of muscle injuries. Last season at Feyenoord, two players (Geertruida and Dávid Hancko) started all 34 Eredivisie games, while three others started at least 29.

Liverpool are expected to have a sufficiently large squad to handle the season, but Slot will prefer not to make frequent changes out of necessity. It would be a significant advantage for him if players like Andy Robertson, Curtis Jones, and Diogo Jota could feature more consistently than they did last season, or at least be available more often.

4. Will Van Dijk and Salah Decline or Maintain Their Excellence?

Aging is an inevitable part of life, and footballers often experience this reality more abruptly than others, with once-world-class players quickly facing scrutiny and doubt.

Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah have been crucial to Liverpool’s successes over the past six years, but with Van Dijk at 33 and Salah at 32, some are prematurely writing off their careers.

The situation wasn’t helped by Liverpool’s dip in form towards the end of last season, which Van Dijk and Salah were unable to reverse.

However, as Mark Twain might have said, the reports of their decline have been greatly exaggerated.

In the 2023-24 Premier League season, only Everton’s James Tarkowski won more aerial duels than Van Dijk, who secured 140 out of 172. Among defenders who played at least 15 games, Van Dijk was not dribbled past by an opponent more times than twice, and according to Opta, he made no mistakes leading to opposition shots.

Meanwhile, Salah registered 28 goal contributions (18 goals, 10 assists) in 32 Premier League matches and 38 goal contributions in 44 games across all competitions (25 goals, 13 assists). In the Premier League, only Erling Haaland (121) took more shots than Salah (114), while only Ollie Watkins (13) and Cole Palmer (11) had more assists. Additionally, only five players created more chances from open play than Salah (64), and all of them played at least three more games.

Like Alexander-Arnold, both players are in the final year of their contracts, which could introduce some uncertainty about their futures and potentially serve as an unwelcome distraction. Nevertheless, Slot will undoubtedly be excited about the opportunity to work with two players who continue to be among the best in their field.

Will Darwin Núñez Finally Break Through?

When Liverpool signed Darwin Núñez, there was considerable excitement. After a challenging first year at Benfica, where he scored just six goals in 29 Primeira Liga games, Núñez burst onto the scene in his second season with 26 goals in 28 matches. This impressive form convinced Liverpool to make a substantial investment in him in 2022.

His debut season at Anfield, however, was less convincing, with nine goals in 29 Premier League games. Many hoped that Núñez would find his stride in his second season, similar to his breakout year in Portugal. He showed promise with a dramatic double against Newcastle in August 2023, but failed to maintain consistent form throughout the season.

Núñez finished the 2023-24 season with 11 goals in 36 Premier League games and also contributed eight assists, more than doubling his previous season’s tally of three. His xG was a respectable 16.4, indicating that if he had slightly exceeded his xG, he might have been a strong contender for Liverpool’s top scorer alongside Salah.

And that’s what Slot needs to unlock in Núñez—converting chances and xG into consistent goals.

Last season, only five players took more shots than Núñez’s 108 in the Premier League, and only three players had more than his 33 big chances. Among players who played at least 350 minutes, only Haaland (0.8) had a higher non-penalty xG per 90 minutes than Núñez’s 0.7.

Núñez frequently finds himself in scoring positions but has struggled to capitalize. Of the other nine players with at least 23 big chances in the Premier League last season, all had conversion rates of at least 31.4%, whereas Núñez converted only 18.2% of his chances.

However, experts on strikers often argue that players who regularly get chances to score have greater potential for improvement than those who convert a higher percentage of fewer chances. Eventually, those opportunities are likely to result in more goals.

Slot previously worked to enhance the performance of Mexican striker Santiago Giménez at Feyenoord. Giménez, who joined from Cruz Azul in the summer of 2022 as a raw talent, was carefully managed by Slot during his initial months. He played 12 times, including only four starts, in the Eredivisie before the 2022 World Cup break, scoring twice from 21 shots.

Upon returning to domestic football and with Slot’s preparation, Giménez scored 13 goals from 65 shots in 20 games (17 starts).

With competition from a fit-again Jota and potentially Cody Gakpo, depending on his role, Núñez will need to rise to the occasion. Under a new manager and system, we might finally see the player Liverpool envisioned when they signed him two years ago.