Champions Liverpool armed with new weapons but repeat act will be tough

LONDON – Armed with around £260 million (S$451 million) worth of new signings, Liverpool have spared no expense in trying to ensure last season’s Premier League title marked the dawn of a new age of domination in English football.

The post-Jurgen Klopp era began with Dutchman Arne Slot’s side wresting control from Manchester City and turning the title race into a procession as their rivals imploded.

Winning back-to-back titles for the first time since 1984 is likely to prove a tougher challenge.

Premier League clubs have already splurged in excess of £2 billion with the likes of Arsenal, City and Chelsea all flexing their muscles with statement signings.

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will surely improve drastically on woeful domestic campaigns last season, while the likes of Aston Villa and Newcastle United will again be making themselves heard near the top end of the table.

While Liverpool will not care, last season’s Premier League campaign was not a vintage edition, with the title sewn up early, the relegation victims all too predictable and the main interest being the jostle for European qualification.

Hopes are high that the new season will offer more intrigue.

It will be a sombre occasion as Liverpool and Bournemouth kick off a 380-match Premier League slog on Aug 15 with the Anfield faithful remembering Diogo Jota, the club’s Portugal forward who died alongside his brother in a car crash in July.

While Jota will forever have a place in the hearts of the Kop, new heroes are ready to emerge, none more so than German midfielder Florian Wirtz and French forward Hugo Ekitike.

Liverpool smashed their transfer record when they paid Bayer Leverkusen an initial £100 million to sign the 22-year-old Germany international, who scored 57 goals and provided 65 assists in 197 appearances for the Bundesliga club.

Allied with the pace and power of 23-year-old Ekitike, signed from Eintracht Frankfurt for an initial £69 million, Liverpool will have more cutting edge this season.

They have also upgraded in defence with highly rated left-back Milos Kerkez set to challenge Andy Robertson and Jeremie Frimpong poised to fill the hole left by the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid.

“I think there’s always room for improvement in every department,” Slot said after Liverpool beat Athletic Bilbao 3-2 in a pre-season friendly. “We’ve added a few extra weapons.”

However, there was a reality check when the Reds lost the Community Shield to Crystal Palace on penalties on Aug 10.

“Last season, we had a lot of ball possession, but that didn’t always lead to promising situations,” Slot said.

“Now we are better in creating and getting promising situations than we were... But the other side is also true, we need maybe a little bit of adjustment defensively at the moment because we don’t concede a lot of chances, but we do concede goals at the moment.”

The Dutchman was also quick to point out that Liverpool’s rivals have not “stood still”, especially Arsenal and City, so that could play a part in their title defence.

Under Mikel Arteta, Arsenal have been agonisingly close to a first Premier League title since 2004, twice pushing City hard and last season emerging as Liverpool’s sole rivals before falling away.

Fans have long lamented the lack of a genuine goal poacher, but their prayers may have been answered with the signing of Sweden’s Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon as part of around £200 million spent in the close season.

The 27-year-old scored 54 goals in all competitions last season and should he come anywhere near the level of club record scorer Thierry Henry, whose No. 14 shirt he will wear, the initial £55 million fee will seem a bargain.

Defensive midfielder Martin Zubimendi arrived from Real Sociedad, while Noni Madueke made the short trip across London from Chelsea to offer attacking support to Bukayo Saka.

While Arsenal, who visit United in their opener on Aug 17, finished 10 points behind Liverpool last term, City were 13 adrift as their stranglehold ended.

Pep Guardiola’s rebuilding job began last season and with talisman Kevin de Bruyne gone, that has accelerated with the signings of Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, Wolverhampton Wanderers left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri and winger Rayan Cherki.

City visit Wolves in the late game on Aug 16.

Fresh from winning the Club World Cup, Chelsea will also be expected to mount a challenge with striker Joao Pedro their standout signing of another busy transfer window. The Blues start their season at home to Palace on Aug 17. REUTERS, AFP