Premier League preview: Liverpool capable of title challenge with exciting new additions

Despite languishing 25 points behind Manchester City in the Premier League last season and almost finishing out of the top four altogether, Liverpool, and not Chelsea, Tottenham or Manchester United, seemed the side most capable of denying Pep Guardiola’s side from retaining their crown next term.

Comprehensive victories over City in the league and Champions League during the campaign only solidified that feeling, while their summer dealings has only reinforced it. Liverpool are on the verge of shattering the world record fee for a goalkeeper after agreeing a stunning £66m deal with Roma for long-term target Alisson.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has chased the 25-year-old for the best part of 12 months and Loris Karius’ horror display in last season’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid, followed up by his howler against Tranmere in a pre-season friendly earlier this month, has only reiterated the need to go for broke for his signature.

Chelsea and Madrid’s interest appeared to derail Liverpool’s momentum at one point, but the Merseyside club have made the decisive breakthrough in talks with Roma, raiding the Italian club for the second time in 12 months after signing Mohamed Salah from their Serie A counterparters last summer.

Alisson has emerged as one of the best goalkeepers in the world in the last 12 months, earning a place in the WhoScored Team of the Season in Europe’s top five leagues last term with a rating of 6.99. The Brazil international represents an upgrade on Karius in all departments and his impending arrival is a huge statement of intent by the club.

Alisson didn’t commit a single error that led to an opposition goal in 49 appearances across Serie A and Champions League action last season, whereas Karius managed three in 32 games. The Brazilian averaged more saves per game (3.2) than Karius (1.8), while also boasting a hugely superior save success rate (76.7%) compared to Liverpool’s current No.1 (66.7%). In fact, Alisson made more saves (155) across both competitions from two fewer appearances than Karius and Simon Mignolet did combined (94).

Not only is Alisson a more commanding presence between the sticks, but he is also magnificent with the ball at his feet. Karius’ distribution isn’t particularly bad, but it pales in comparison to Alisson, who last season completed 56.1% of his long passes in league and European action compared to Karius' 28.3%.

Alisson’s arrival will likely be the most important business Liverpool conduct this summer and it completely transforms Klopp’s side into genuine title contenders for next season. His arrival, which will be officially announced by the end of the weekend, will also take their summer spending spree beyond the £150m mark.

Instead of newspapers inches being dominated by gossip columns this summer, the 2018 World Cup has made it easy to forget some high profile dealings have already been completed. Although a deal to sign Naby Keita was concluded 12 months ago, the dynamic midfielder only moved to Liverpool from RB Leipzig this summer for a £52.75m fee. 

Keita was arguably the best midfielder over the last two Bundesliga campaigns, illustrated by an impressive WhoScored rating of 7.45 during that time. The 23-year-old will improve Liverpool’s midfield options tremendously, adding guile and drive to what was previously a relatively limited bank of three.

Best deployed in a No.8 position, Keita is free to maximise his all-action qualities. While Keita has won possession in the middle third at least 50 more times than any other Bundesliga player in the last two seasons (297), he is also superbly effective in the attacking third. A return of 26 goals and assists from 58 league games in that period is greater than the likes of Paul Pogba (25 in 57 matches), Anthony Martial (24 in 55) and Willian (23 in 70).

Keita’s immense dribbling potential will also help Liverpool transition from defence to attack more quickly, making them even more dangerous on the front foot. In the Premier League last season, the most commonly used players in Klopp's midfield three were Jordan Henderson, Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum, who completed 74 dribbles as a collective. Keita managed 67 on his own, completing the most over the last two Bundesliga campaigns (150).

Furthermore, Keita has also completed the most accurate through balls in the last two Bundesliga campaigns (16), which will only play into the hands of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Salah, who scored 91 goals combined in all competitions last season.

Keita’s arrival has been in the pipeline for sometime, but Liverpool’s capture of Fabinho from Monaco at the end of May caught everyone by surprise. Klopp wasted little time in identifying Emre Can’s replacement and even managed to get the Fabinho through the door before the Germany international completed his free transfer move to Juventus.

Capable of playing at right-back, Fabinho has really developed into a commanding midfield presence in the last two years, even earning constant links to Manchester United. With Jordan Henderson expected to be given an extended break following his exploits with England at the 2018 World Cup, Fabinho will almost certainly feature regularly at the start of the campaign and it would not be a surprise to see Henderson completely out of the pitch this time next year.

Only Renaud Cohade (242) has completed more tackles than Fabinho (227) in the last two Ligue 1 campaigns, ensuring their will be the necessary steel in Liverpool’s midfield when the Brazilian plays. Not only that, but Liverpool have also signed a terrific penalty taker. The 24-year-old has netted 17 penalties in the last three campaigns, more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues during the same period.

With Alex Oxalde-Chamberlain sidelined for the entire season, Klopp will likely deploy Wijnaldum or James Milner alongside his two new midfield recruits, at least until all of Liverpool’s World Cup players are back up to speed. It’s a shame that Liverpool will be without Oxlade-Chamberlain’s pace from central areas, but Wijnaldum or Milner will add immense endurance.

Liverpool’s most surprising signing of the summer so far came in the shape of Xherdan Shaqiri, who Klopp’s side picked up for around £13m from relegated Stoke City. The Switzerland international at least showed at the 2018 World Cup he is capable of carrying out some sort of pressing game, with only Eden Hazard (9) winning possession the attacking third more times at the tournament than the 26-year-old (8).

Shaqiri played a direct hand in 15 league goals for a Stoke side that battled relegation all season and that can only suggest good things are to come from the former Bayern Munich creator when picked in a team with greater quality and more used to dominating matches. Shaqiri hasn’t been signed to directly replace Philippe Coutinho and certainly improves Klopp’s squad options when the games come thick and fast, while his £13m fee minimises any gamble taken.

With Alisson on the verge of signing, Klopp has quickly assembled an outstanding team at Anfield and there are still lingering reports suggesting Liverpool will try and rekindle a deal to sign Lyon captain Nabil Fekir. His arrival would really be the cherry on top of a dream summer for Liverpool supporters, enabling them to compete on all fronts next season.

Liverpool fell short in the Champions League last season, but silverware in at least one competition should be a minimum requirement this time around. Unlike their Premier League rivals, Liverpool are benefitting from the fact a lot of their key players have enjoyed full summers off. Virgil Van Dijk, Adam Lallana, Andrew Robertson, Joel Matip, Keita, Fabinho, Wijnaldum and Milner will all have had full pre-seasons by the time the season starts, while Mane and Salah are jetting off on the club’s tour of the United States with the rest of their team-mates. They finished last season the second best team in the Premier League, but now they are primed to become the best team.