Latest Liverpool news and gossip as the Reds look ahead to their Premier League opener against Bournemouth next week
Mark has been a football journalist since 2017 and has contributed to several publications including the Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News and football.london. He also spent eight months on the US Sports team for the Mirror US
Arne Slot head coach of Liverpool
Arne Slot head coach of Liverpool(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Liverpool are busy preparing for their Premier League title defence, which gets underway in just over one week's time. The Reds will host Bournemouth at Anfield on August 15 as they look to start the new campaign with a victory.
Arne Slot and Co. have enjoyed a successful pre-season so far, and will take on Crystal Palace in the Community Shield on Sunday in their next match. Slot will hope that the starting line-up for the clash at Wembley Stadium will be close to the strongest available for Liverpool throughout the season.
There have been some injury and fitness concerns for Liverpool during pre-season, with Joe Gomez returning from the Far East with an Achilles problem and Federico Chiesa missing the trip entirely with a minor issue. More recently, Conor Bradley picked up an injury which forced him to miss the double-header against Athletic Bilbao while Virgil van Dijk missed both games through illness and Alisson Becker was also absent.
Despite these setbacks, Slot will hope to have nearly all of the aforementioned players available for the Premier League opener against Bournemouth. There is also the potential for more new signings to be made ahead of the fixture.
In terms of the line-up against Bournemouth, Slot will hope to call on Alisson for the clash at Anfield. If the Brazilian is unavailable, Giorgi Mamardashvili will be expected to take his place.
In defence, the right-back question will be whether or not Slot starts Bradley or Jeremie Frimpong. If Bradley is injured then it's an easy decision, if not then it remains to be seen who the Liverpool head coach will start.
Milos Kerkez will be expected to start at left-back against his former club after an impressive pre-season. Slot will also hope to be able to recall Van Dijk to start alongside Ibrahima Konate at centre-back.
Midfield could give Slot some selection headaches going forward. Ryan Gravenberch is an almost-certain starter, but the signing of Florian Wirtz means Liverpool are likely to be forced into choosing between Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai to start in the middle of the park.
The forward line could also present some challenges, with Mohamed Salah the only player guaranteed to be a starter when fit. The sale of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich means Liverpool have only Cody Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike who could start on the left wing.
As things stand, Darwin Nunez could be the central striker. However, the Uruguayan is the subject of a bid from Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal, so if Gakpo is chosen to start on the left wing, it could be Ekitike who leads the line for Liverpool.
Liverpool are also continuing to be linked with a move for Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak. After having a £110million bid rejected last week, it would certainly represent a dream scenario to have the Sweden international available for the first day of the new season.
Liverpool dream line-up vs Bournemouth: Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Wirtz, Ekitike; Isak