Liverpool take on Stoke City on Sunday, in what is both our first game of the new Premier League season and a rematch of the final match of our previous campaign, which ended in a 6-1 defeat.
Without wishing to state the obvious, it’s imperative that we perform to a much higher standard if we are to reverse that result this time around, and get our new season off to the perfect start.
We were short all over the pitch that day so, in the list below, we’ve outlined five key improvements that we’re hoping our new look team can help produce.
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5) Good communication between centre-backs
Last season, it was Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho who played at the Britannia Stadium, and it looked as if their footballing brains had been left on another planet. Dejan Lovren, who may well start in place of Sakho this time around, has particularly struggled with this element of his game over the last year and will need all the help he can get to perform at the level to which he’s capable of. Skrtel is the senior man and needs to be loud.
4) Well balanced full-backs who know when to attack
Last time, Emre Can and Alberto Moreno were our two full-backs, and they were torn apart by an excellent Stoke side. Both players were hauled off at half-time, with Kolo Toure and Jordon Ibe coming on in their place, and we only conceded one more goal after the break. Nathaniel Clyne and Joe Gomez, who will likely start this time around, need to find the right balance between attack and defence. Committing too much will leave us exposed.
3) A midfield partnership that we can rely upon
One of the biggest problems against Stoke was a congested midfield. Henderson, Lucas, Allen and Gerrard all featured and the result was a team which was painfully predictable. This time around, with James Milner likely to start alongside our new captain, the emphasis will be on them to provide an engine room from which the forward players can feed off. Stoke pride themselves on being a domineering opposition, and our pair will have to work hard to resist that.
2) Natural width to cause Stoke problems
Jordon Ibe has been our stand-out player during pre-season and has the ability to really stretch a rather sluggish Stoke defence. With Ryan Shawcross out as well, Ibe will relish the opportunity to cut inside and trying to test the central pairing. It’s something which we simply didn’t have at our disposal last time around, when Lallana, Coutinho and Gerrard formed an incredibly narrow front three. It will be interesting to see who starts on the opposite flank on Sunday, with Lallana probably still the favourite.
1) Someone who can finish the chances up front
We didn’t have a central striker for much of last season. With Daniel Sturridge struggling with injury and the likes of Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert rarely utilised by Brendan Rodgers, it’s arguably been an entire season since we last saw a Liverpool strikeforce that could be feared. New signing Christian Benteke should change all that and give the Stoke defenders plenty to think about. He’ll be looking to build on an impressive debut, where he scored a cracking goal against Swindon.
