Premier League 2019-20
The new Premier League season is upon us and much of the talk this summer has been around the top of the table and whether Manchester City can claim another title or if Liverpool have enough to overtake them. Some Liverpool fans may be a little disappointed with their transfer dealings this summer, with no real blockbuster, but this is a club that has set itself up for years to come over the past couple of transfer windows, and major moves are unlikely.
The football prediction from Betfair experts will be an interesting read this season but, as far as the odds go at the start of this new season, it is Manchester City who are fancied to retain the title. They are the 4/9 favourites to lift the title once more, while Liverpool are priced up as the 11/4 second favourites.
If there is an area where Liverpool can move forward and be better than last season, then it is certainly with their depth attacking players. They simply relied too much on their front three of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firminho. Those three will once again lead the line – they are one of the best front threes in the world – but what exactly do Liverpool have behind them, and can these players make enough of an impact to lead them to glory?
As things stand, they have two players that they can turn to. The first is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, a player who missed most of last season through injury. While he has been at the club and understands what it feels like to play there, he will, in some ways, feel like a new signing after being out for so long. He isn’t an out and out goalscorer but he has the ability to terrorise defenders and drag them out of position with his trickery and pace.
At the very top level, he always falls a little short of being a first-team regular but, if he can find his form early, then there is no reason why he can’t prove to be a useful substitution for Liverpool to have up their sleeves. It is unlikely many tired defenders would fancy their chances against him in the latter part of games.
The second player Liverpool need is Divock Origi. He only scored three Premier League goals last season but two of those were crucial. The first was a big winner against Everton in their derby game in December and the second was a late winner in what was a must-win game against Newcastle towards the end of the season. He needs to make that a habit, and score more of those goals so that he gets more opportunities and chances to shine. Liverpool cannot win the Premier League by relying on their front three and, while Origi and Oxlade-Chamberlain don’t stand out as being the type of quality needed to win a Premier League title, contributions from those two are going to be key this season.
