Liverpool enter the new season for the first time in 30 years as the team to beat, the reigning champions of England. A club finally back on their perch, marked by the ‘Henderson Shuffle’ late in  July, as a Liverpool captain had their hands on the league title for the first time since 1990.

Ahead of the new season, it’s clear Liverpool’s success will be gauged on whether they can prolong the stay of the league title in Merseyside for another year.

Ask any pro who has been part of a title winning side and they’ll all tell you the same thing, it’s harder to retain it, than it is to win it for the first time. The truth is, Liverpool haven’t been in a position to retain the title for nearly three decades, only a select few will have been part of a title winning squad before and will know the demand and dedication required.

For this side, although they may not have experience in retaining domestic titles, they've had plenty of chapters of overcoming adversity, from runners up in Kiev to winners in Madrid. They’ll be fairly well placed to deal with any external pressure. After all, this is a side that sat 25 points clear at the top of the Premier League and told the media weekly that nothing was won yet.

  • Pre-season review

It was a strange pre-season for many clubs, with some not having any sort of break. Liverpool headed out to Austria in August to face RB Salzburg and Stuttgart as part of their training camp. The two standout performers during the camp were been the much talked about Rhian Brewster and January signing Takumi Minamino.

Brewster has been a name on everyone’s lips this summer, as the striker’s immediate future has been heavily talked about over the past few months following his impressive loan at Swansea City. Brewster took the Championship by storm, scoring 11 in just 22 games, reinstating the hype that has followed him during his years at Liverpool.

It will be interesting to see how the saga plays out. Brewster has been one of the most exciting players to come out of the youth setup in the last couple of years, and at his tender age he needs to be playing football regularly. If that isn’t possible this season, a loan to a Premier League club could be the most sensible option for all involved.

Minamino has had a really successful audition during the summer months. His first six months in England had been like any technical player we’ve seen integrated into a Jurgen Klopp system, time is a must. With Klopp having switched from his ever present 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 at times during pre-season, ‘Taki’ has certainly reaped the rewards of the shakeup in shape. Operating off the left at times, but more prominently down the centre as ‘10’, he’s certainly given Klopp and his staff a selection headache ahead of Saturday’s curtain raiser against Leeds United.

  • Transfer dealings

There hasn’t been many through the door in terms of in comings at Anfield, with just the one arrival so far in Greek left back Konstantinos Tsimikas. One of the biggest transfer stories of the summer continues to drag on, as Thiago’s proposed move from Bayern Munich to Anfield hasn’t made the progress that everyone would’ve hoped for by this stage of the window.

Liverpool could do with a few new faces ahead of the congested fixtures list this season. Combined with the short turnaround from last season, I suspect injuries and fatigue will be more prominent than ever. Liverpool have still yet to sign a replacement for Dejan Lovren, who departed last month. With the track records of Joe Gomez and Joel Matip when it comes to injuries, it doesn’t fill many fans with hope that between the two of them they will be fit to play 38 league games.  The alternative is that Klopp sees Fabinho as his fourth-choice centre half, like we saw in the latter stages of the Community Shield.

With just under a month until the October 5th transfer deadline, I think it would be wise for Liverpool to welcome some new faces in to help combat the ruthless fixture scheduling.

  • Liverpool’s star man

Jordan Henderson was Liverpool’s most important player last season, on and off the pitch. It proved that your best player isn’t always your most important, and that your best player is sometimes probably one of the easier to replace. Henderson has proved his worth over the last few seasons under Klopp, but no more than last year. He was the driving force in Klopp’s ferocious midfield, he was the metronome, he set the tone, week in, week out.

The periods last season in February, March, and July where the reds were without their skipper demonstrated how important he is, and subsequently how irreplaceable he's become to this side. I expect the same this season, with his knee injury keeping him out of the first few weeks of the season, it will be interesting to see if Klopp goes with a more senior player in the middle like James Milner. The personalities deployed by the gaffer and especially those like Milner and Henderson are so priceless to this side.

  • The one to watch?

Curtis Jones cemented himself as a first team player last season, with his moment of the campaign coming with his stunner in the FA Cup against local rivals Everton. He then tallied up more minutes after Liverpool had the title wrapped and sealed. Jones will be hoping to feature more prominently this season as a player with a versatile skill set which allows him to line up as a midfielder or on the right side of the front three. With Klopp potentially looking at lining up in 4-2-3-1, Jones could be hoping to secure one of the wide roles behind the forwards. I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of him in the red strip, as Klopp will look to each and every member of his squad to combat the fixture lag.

  • Season definers…

I’ve highlighted some of the key fixtures which will be pivotal in Liverpool’s bids to secure their title

Chelsea (A) 20.9.2020

Manchester City (A) 7.11.2020

Manchester United (H) 16.1.2021

Manchester City (H) 6.02.2021

Chelsea (H) 20.03.2021

  • Writers Verdict

It will certainly be interesting to see if Klopp can mastermind Liverpool to back-to-back league titles. With so many external factors affecting this season, it could certainly throw up a few shocks along the way.

At this point, my only worry is Liverpool's lack of transfer activity, and more so how thin the squad looks in certain areas. Failure to make signings certainly doesn't turn you into a bad side overnight like many Liverpool's fans online would have you believe, though.

We certainly won't see a winning margin like last season. I think our nearest challenges will once again be Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, but with their lack of defensive reassurance this summer, I still think Liverpool are ahead of them in that department.

I think this squad at the moment, without any incomings, has got one last season left in it. I think this is the last summer before new faces become essential, as we've seen with the likes of Tottenham, you can only keep a squad without new additions together for so long.  At the same time, if Thiago was to join Liverpool, I think Liverpool would win the league comfortably again by at least a five-point margin.

So, I'm going to stick my head on the line and say Liverpool will win the league again. I think this side has gained an appetite for trophies over the last few years and they'll be desperate to continue to make and break records and write their name into Liverpool history once again.