The Reds are gearing up for the first season in nearly a decade without Jürgen Klopp at the helm. Arne Slot’s pre-season has gone well, with wins over Premier League opposition in Arsenal and Manchester United, as well as a victory over Spanish side Sevilla.
Normally you would do well to ignore pre-season matches, given the fact that they tell us very little about anything, but they’ve been the only chance to see what the new manager is planning for his players, so in many ways it’s all we can look to if we want to get a sense of the likelihood of Liverpool winning a trophy during the 2024-2025 campaign that we’re on the eve of.
In some ways, you’d be daft to rule Liverpool out of the title conversation altogether. With reports emerging that the Premier League’s investigation into Manchester City’s 115 charges of financial misconduct reaching a conclusion at the start of the season, there is at least a slight possibility that they’re docked some points.
If that happens, it’s possible that they could be excluded from those going for the top spot, which would leave Liverpool and Arsenal to fight it out, if recent years are anything to go by. If you wanted to bet online on the possible league winners, you’d probably get good odds on the Reds because bookies are ignoring the elephant in the room.
I don't think Arsenal will Win the league anytime soon, the way Liverpool are playing under Arne Slot is crazy and the fact that pep is not leaving city anytime soon just means the end of Arsenal's title hopes,I mean Arsenal had the chance to win the league. #Arsenal
— BigMen'sWorld (@GODSGIFT_0) August 11, 2024
Similarly, this is a squad that is full of top quality players that know exactly how to compete for the title. No, Arne Slot hasn’t managed in the Premier League before, so how quickly he learns the ins and outs of the competition might be crucial to Liverpool’s success. But the truth is that he’s impressed in the pre-season and might be underestimated by many people, including the bookmakers.
The likelihood is that City get away with just a slap on the wrist, with few football fans having any faith that the Premier League will actually punish them in a meaningful way, so Liverpool’s title chances might be tied up with the hearing.
When Rafa Benítez arrived at Liverpool, he struggled with the domestic tournaments but was able to hit the ground running when it came to Europe. Given the fact that, like Benítez, Slot is from the continent, is there a chance that he can take the Reds far in the Champions League? The great leveller this season is the fact that no one really knows how the new-look competition will work out.
If you finish in the top eight of the initial league section then you will make it to the last 16 automatically, whereas if you don’t then you’ll have an extra two games to fit in to your January period. That could cause all sorts of issues for the favourites.
If Liverpool are able to finish well enough during the league section to avoid those extra games then any number of advantages could be found over other sides. Whilst the Premier League’s decision around Manchester City won’t have any literal effect on them in Europe, there is little doubt that it could throw them if they are given a large points deduction or other punishment.
With City likely to be one of the most fancied teams in the Champions League this season, that could play perfectly into Liverpool’s hands. There is so much we don’t know about how the competition will work this year that betting against the Reds in their favourite tournament wouldn’t be wise.
If you’re looking for a trophy that Liverpool could win during Arne Slot’s first season then the FA Cup and League Cup might just be the way to go. There is a long list of managers who have won the latter during their first season at a club, for example.
The limited number of rounds mean that it is possible to get a trophy in the cabinet before you’ve even really managed to unpack your boxes. The FA Cup, meanwhile, has seen replays abolished for the big teams, so it will allow the manager to take it a bit more seriously.
@sportribution Liverpool celebrating in the changing room after winning the FA Cup #facup #facupwinner
Then there’s the fact that Slot will want to take a look at his squad players and those players will be keen to impress. The domestic cups are the best place to have a look at players that Slot won’t consider part of the first team, but those lads will believe that they have a chance of getting into his first team if they play well.
It will all come down to how friendly or otherwise the draws are.
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