Premier League 2021-22
Club-by-club guide
What’s changed in 12 weeks?
The sight of Virgil van Dijk (far right) back on the pitch has been a huge boost for Liverpool after he missed most of last season with a serious knee injury. Joe Gomez is back too, but there is a huge hole in midfield following Georginio Wijnaldum’s move to Paris St-germain on a free transfer. Jurgen Klopp looks hungry for a title challenge and has brought in Ibrahima Konate from Red Bull Leipzig to add competition in the heart of defence. Harvey Elliott is back from his Championship loan at Blackburn Rovers and has been impressive in preseason. He is climbing the pecking order at Anfield.
Who has it all to prove?
Klopp and his players all say they know how important Roberto Firmino is to the team, but his return of nine goals last season was not enough. The Brazilian will be looking to get back into double figures. His workrate is second-to-none, but the huge transfer fee for Romelu Lukaku and the high valuation of Harry Kane shows how important a goalscoring striker is to a team.
Most exciting prospect
Curtis Jones, 20, showed maturity on the ball last season when he was given chances to impress. There could be a few more opportunities with Wijnaldum’s departure. He has already played for the England Under-21s and a full call-up to the seniors will not be far away.
Success would be…
Any form of silverware, but ideally a Premier League title back at Anfield – this time celebrated in front of fans – or the Champions League.
Failure would be…
Not sustaining a title challenge would be disappointing. They will be expected to bounce back after losing their grip on their title and threatening to drop out of the Champions League places.
Managerial axe rating
1/5. Klopp has more chance of “skimming an Erdinger” than getting the sack at Liverpool. If contracts for life existed, he would surely have one. Hansi Flick has taken the Germany job to succeed Joachim Low, which is good news for Liverpool because the only threat to Klopp’s position is if he wants a new challenge at international level.
Player of the year will be…
Trent Alexander-arnold. After being dropped for England and fighting his way back into Gareth Southgate’s plans, he has the talent and drive to recover from the heartache of being injured for the Euros.
Major ins
Ibrahima Konate (RB Leipzig, £36m).
Major outs
Georginio Wijnaldum (Paris St-germain, free), Marko Grujic (Porto, £10.5m), Harry Wilson (Fulham, £12m).