Thought it might be fun to make and see some predictions for the upcoming season, LFC related. Most are pretty obvious but you never know…anyone want to add to the list or make up your own, jump in. Just some random thoughts on season ahead before we kick it off Sat against Leeds:
Finish: 1st
Top scorer: Mane
Player of the season: Mane. His will to win games when we are tied or down by one going into last 30 or 20 is a palpable thing that rolls out of the television screen so that you can just about smell and taste it. His drive and single-mindedness as games progress into the latter stages are really special. That trait is generally easier to see watching live in the stadium (I don’t make it to Anfield, this is a general point), but it’s always on full display even through TV with Mane. Salah can change a game in an instant, but before he adds moment of inspiration, can also fade out of games. Mane does not. Maybe his motor just never slows down, and everyone else around him get’s tired, so it looks more impressive in last 20. You can tell he absolutely hates losing (he’s not the only one…but this little love fest is about him lol)
VVD won’t have enough defending to do to win it…same with Allison. It’s hard to win player of the season standing at the center circle admiring the team.
Biggest surprise: The amount of rotation/formation changes we see out of Klopp in a condensed season with games flying one after the other. This season may be one of attrition rather than skill, and the manager who can keep his squad the freshest the longest may be the one who comes out on top. Klopp will chop and change mids, but the front 3 will need a rest periodically in games here and there. It will be interesting to see how it’s handled.
Obviously dummy: The Ev. Still waiting for that win.
Youngster that will impress: Few choices, could be Williams, Elliot, Brewster (if he stays), or a surprise like Williams was this past year. I would have sworn at this time last year it was Hoever who would impress, and instead he found himself behind Williams, a kid I hadn’t heard off. But it has to be Jones. I’d love him to get somewhere like 15-20 league appearances with some starts (other than the cups) under his belt. That’s probably asking too much, as Klopp doesn’t really like to rotate his team (despite what I said earlier lol- he has his few that he trusts that he will play), but Jones has the ability to do it. I don’t think Elliot will see much action this year, he may be the choice next year.
Random thoughts: Kieta will turn into a lightning rod for game day threads: the OH MY GOD HE ISN"T STARTING WHAT IS KLOPP DOING I"M AFRAID AND BEHIND MY COUCH panicky posts are already annoying me. I think he’ll have a terrific year though. Health dependent (isn’t it always?) he will be the most dynamic mid this year, and it won’t be close- subject to change if Thiago comes after I’ve seen him play in red- obviously.
Minamino will be OK this year. Looks great in preseason, but who doesn’t? Forum will still hem and haw about cover for front 3 at end of the year and wonder why Brewster was sold/loaned/not played more, but you know, Minamino was OK as well I guess…
If 4-2-3-1 gets any extended run (we do it 3 or 4 games in a row) we will give up more goals than we are used to seeing. Having 3 midfield grafters become 2 midfield grafters isn’t easy- unless you are camped in other teams half.
We chased and then lost the title by a margin, then we blew everyone away so that no one can catch us. This time we’ll be up and down but finally clinch it to make everyone else even more pissed off
We’ll definitely reach the semis of CL minimum, Atletico was an outlier IMO.
Hendo will still be our key player, and our win ratio with him in the side will be more than without him.
Jones will feature a lot more, and upward trajectory will continue.
Minamino will surprise everyone with what he’s got in the locker.
Our #8 will score many goals from outside the box, reminiscent of earlier times.
Alisson will start saving penalties more than current numbers, our team and players are known to work on aspects worth improving in their game.
Bobby will put better numbers than last year, despite being as awesome as he is without putting those numbers
We’ll continue to play kids and players who needs minutes in the other cups.
Ironically I think we will win the league again but as others have said by a tighter margin, I think the league will be interrupted again but for a shorter period with the protocol already having been in place it wouldn’t take much beyond 20 days to get it back in place.
I don’t think we will see the same delays to football as we have seen. I also think we will sign some players late on in the window, can’t see fans being back to full.
I agree that this season will be much closer. I think we’ll win the league but won’t get more than 90 points. There’ll be less than 10 pts separating us from 3rd.
Salah will again be top scorer for us and also in the league.
Keita will be our player of the season.
We’ll have the best defence and also the best attack.
We’ll go out of the domestic cups early, again.
The winner of any knockout game between us and Bayern Munich will win the CL for the 7th time.
Alternatively, if we do manage to run away with the league, we’ll win our 20th title at Old Trafford at the beginning of May and Ferguson’s beetroot face will explode.
Well I won’t take 2nd if offered now… so I’ll go out on a limb and say we win it for number 20.
City will end 2nd, Pep will leave. End of that short rivalry.
Lampard and Jose sacked just after xmas - meaning Arsenal 3rd and United (Sheffield) 4th. Ole will still be at the wheel, though they will finish Thursday night slot.
Mane and Minamino will be our star players, closely followed by Keita.
Klopp will unearth some kid from the reserves who just takes it all by storm - puts Salah on the bench.
We will win between 36 - 38 prem games this season.
City will win the title and we will finish 2nd. I predicted the same thing last year and look what happened. In all seriousness I think this season will be tough for us. We have been near perfect for two seasons so going again a third time with practically the same team is a huge ask. I was gutted we didn’t get Werner as he seemed perfect for us and the front 3 need some healthy competition. Mane was great last season but Mo and Bobby were below their best. I am less fussed about Thiago and it’s vital we keep Gini. He has been the mainstay of the midfield the last 2 seasons and I think people are underestimating the impact his loss would have on us. The one concern for me is the CB situation. I don’t like the idea of Fabinho filling in there and we need a 4th option. Our success in the last 2 seasons has not been built on the fantastic attacking play we saw in JK’s first two seasons, but on resilience and a rock solid defence. Any weakness in that area and we will struggle to keep up the standards. The other concern is the lack of a crowd. We need fans back to maintain Fortress Anfield.
Not a prediction but the player I am most looking forward to seeing this season is Curtis Jones. I am not totally convinced about him yet and he doesn’t seem like your usual Klopp player but he’s working with the best coaching team in the world and I really hope he comes through. Always great to see Scousers in the team.
The players who have something to prove this season are Keita and Minamino. Keita did OK towards the end of last season but it’s been a patchy Liverpool career so far. I like him and he offers something different with his directness. Hopefully he can stay fit. Minamino did nothing for me in the few games he played last season. Always seemed on the periphery of the game but his pre-season performances have been promising.
I want to win the CL probably more than the PL. I am still seething about the Atletico defeat. It was a complete travesty. We need to put that right. We will do nothing in the domestic cups. Rightly, JK doesn’t care about them. If he puts out the kids again like he did against Shrewsbury then it’s fine with me. I genuinely enjoyed that game more than any other last season.
Klopp will continue to be a total legend but I hope he can relax and enjoy this season a bit more. He has nothing to prove now. We (fans) need to guard against feeling entitled after all this greatness we’ve been privileged to have witnessed. Every season til now we’ve got progressively better under Klopp. That can’t continue indefinitely so if we do dip it needs to be kept in perspective.
I think we’ll win the league again
We’ll outscore the other 19 in the division
We won’t get the points we have the last 2 season
We will win another cup
Salah and/or Mane will be PFA players player of the year
Alisson will win golden gloves
Like I said 28 days ago I wait until the 6th of Oktober.
Think Edwards and his team did an excellent job with who we brought in and not selling for prices like it is the sale of the year. Only a bit disappointed that we did no sign a better second goalkeeper.
Hope we will finish first and reach the semi-final of the CL at least.
The top scorer will be Mo Salah
Player of the season: Thiago, seen hem play a lot for BM and I’m so excited that he plays for us now.
Young player: it is obvious that Jones will get the most chances to play from Klopp but I like the CB, Williams, too.
Who would have predicted we would be having these many injuries at the start of the season eh? Love going back to earlier posts like we all did here and see how unpredictable things actually are
To be fair I said that in September and it still looked good on Christmas Day, I won’t be making one for next season though.
If you told me VVD, Gomez, Thiago and Matip would miss half of the season at least and we would be playing Nat Phillips at the back I don’t think I’d have made that prediction not to mention large periods missing Alisson and Henderson.
