Liverpool will enter the 2025/26 season as the Premier League champion, and set a deeper goal in the Champions League. We will ask 5 important questions for The Reds before the new season started.
1. Can Liverpool successfully defend the throne?
Last season was a great journey, but this season was a difficult “album” challenge. Liverpool is now a hunting team, with a bigger goal than ever on the back. Can they maintain or overcome the performance of the previous season?
Liverpool ended the 2024/25 season with 84 points, 10 points more than the second team. However, this figure does not tell all the story. After 34 rounds, they had 82 points, only earned 2 more points (draw 2, lost 2) after early coronation. The slowdown is easy to understand because of the championship.
It is undeniable that Liverpool deserves to lift the Premier League trophy in May. They scored at least 14 goals behind the team (86 goals), the expected goal index (XG) was at least 14 (83.5 XG), shot at least 41 times, and won at least 4 matches (25 matches).
The defense is also sure, only conceding 41 goals, inferior to each Arsenal (34 goals). Notably, 9 of them (22%) came after Liverpool won the championship.
The positive thing is that after the coronation of the Dutch league in the second season in Feyenoord, Slot helped the team improve nearly every indicator in the next season: more than 2 points, scoring 11 more goals, increasing XG to 28.9, conceding less than 4 goals and decreasing the opponent to 4.2.
However, Feyenoord did not win because PSV had an unusual outstanding season. If there is no opponent in the Premier League in the “invincible” form, Liverpool has a basis for self -crowned confidence again.
2. How fast the rookie will integrate?
A remarkable point last season is that Liverpool only added Federico Chiesa, but he only played 104 minutes in the Premier League and did not contribute any goals or assists.
This season, they have changed a lot. Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Hugo Ekitike both arrived in Anfield, and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili (agreed from the previous season). Wirtz – the club's record – is the world's brightest star, showing Liverpool's huge ambition.
However, Liverpool also has many losses: Trent Alexander-Arnold, CaoMhin Kelleher, Luis Diaz, Jarell Quanusah and Darwin Nunez left. In particular, the sudden accident of Diogo Jota was a big shock, and Liverpool hung permanently shirt number 20 to commemorate him.
4 rookies are expected to be the pillar. Ekitike may have difficulty if Alexander Isak came before the transfer closed, but with the amount of more than 69 million pounds that Liverpool had spent, he would not have to have a regular reserve.
Slot has led Feyenoord in the stage of changing personnel strongly with 15 rookies to the summer of 2022 as well as 14 in the following season, and all succeeded.
Pre -season shows that they integrate well: Wirtz scores against Yokohama F. Marinos, Frimpong created in the same match, Ekitike created for Salah to Bilbao, Kerkez impressed with the “face -to -face” in the match against Preston.
In the match against the British Super Cup against Crystal Palace, Wirtic created for Ekitike to open the score, Frimpong scored the second goal (although it could be a cross). If these rookies raise the team that has won the championship easily last season, the rest of the Premier League has a reason to worry.
3. Is the defense enough?
Liverpool has conceded 32 goals after 34 rounds last season, a good achievement. But the defeat against Palace in the British Super Cup shows a few problems. Both Frimpong and Kerkez are the offensive defender, forcing the center -back to carry more. Virgil Van Dijk has just been sick, while friendly matches have many reserve central defenses.
However, the memory of the 2020/21 season remains. At that time, Liverpool had only 3 main central defenders, but Van Dijk, Gomez and Matip were long -term injuries, forcing coach Jurgen Klopp to drag the midfielder down to the center -back and fall.
Currently, after selling Quansah, Liverpool only Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Gomez. Gomez has a history of constant injury. Van Dijk is 34 years old, still at a high level but not sure to download more than 4,000 minutes of play. Konate last season has first played more than 40 matches since coming to Anfield.
If you want to fight 65 matches in all competitions, Liverpool almost certainly need an additional center -back. Latest, The Reds reached an agreement to recruit 18 -year -old center -back Giovanni Leoni from Parma.
4. No Salah?
Do not worry, Salah is still here, has just extended the contract for 2 years and is ready to connect the season 2024/25 “terrible” with 57 participating in the goal. But AFCON 2025 takes place from December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026, which means that Salah will be at least 5 Premier League matches, including a trip against Arsenal, and maybe 6 matches if Egypt to the final.
In the past, Liverpool still won most of the missing Salah. But the problem is that after attending AFCON, his performance often decreased significantly. For example, season 2021/22 and 2023/24, Salah's goals/assist indicators have dropped sharply after returning.
So, the problem is not only to live without Salah, but also to help “King Pharaoh” back to the peak of the peak of the Afcon.
5. Can Liverpool go further in the Champions League?
Liverpool won the Premier League, but the Champions League is the biggest dream. Last season, they topped the new type of classification round with 36 teams, but had to encounter PSG in the 1/8 round. Despite putting PSG in a penalty shootout, Liverpool was still eliminated.
Slot understands that in order for the best “in England” to become the best “in Europe”, The Reds needs another step in class. Liverpool entered the season 2025/26 with the No. 1 position on the Opta Power Rankings power rankings. Now is the time to prove that they deserve both domestic and European arena.
