There are now approaching five weeks to the start of the new Premier League season and already thoughts are turning to how Liverpool could line up on the opening weekend
Dominik Szoboszlai of Liverpool during a training session at AXA Training Centre on July 14 2026 in Kirkby
Dominik Szoboszlai of Liverpool during a training session at AXA Training Centre on July 14 2026 in Kirkby(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
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Don't worry, folks. The proper football will be starting soon.
As the World Cup builds up to its big finale on Sunday - a four-quartered match either side of a major multi-artist music concert in New York - Liverpool are already back at the AXA Training Centre as they prepare for the new Premier League campaign.
With Andoni Iraola having replaced the axed Arne Slot as head coach, the Reds will be stepping into the unknown somewhat albeit with the vast majority of last season's under-performing squad.
One of the biggest question marks over the last 12 months has been the composition of the midfield, which Slot never truly managed to nail down. What, though, should Iraola do when Liverpool open the season at Newcastle United on August 23? Our ECHO writers take a look...
Ian Doyle
With no new midfielders incoming - and seemingly unlikely to unless one or more of the current senior options is moved on during the market - Iraola will have the same poser as Slot for the trip to St James' Park.
The likelihood, though, is his job will be made slightly easier given the ongoing participation of Alexis Mac Allister at the World Cup with Argentina.
The 27-year-old won't have had more than a couple of weeks pre-season training under his belt after the competition, so will perhaps be on the bench at best against Newcastle.
At Bournemouth, Iraola favoured a 4-2-3-1 with one of the double pivot more defensively-minded. However, with Wataru Endo recovering from injury and barely starting a Premier League in the last two years, there really isn't another such senior player in the Liverpool squad.
Florian Wirtz, though, will surely be the number 10, which leaves three players competing for two places. Ryan Gravenberch will be one, and if Dominik Szoboszlai isn't required on the right wing then he should get the nod ahead of Curtis Jones.
Of course, that engine room may lack a little physicality and was shown at times to be a little easy to play through on the rare occasions it was utilised last season. It may well prove an early test of whether matters are going to change under Iraola in that regard.
Mark Jones
If Alexis Mac Allister's World Cup displays have offered a reminder of just what the Liverpool midfielder can do, they've also helped delay his return to the Reds' fold.
With the Argentina international due for at least three weeks off after the tournament, it would be a surprise if he were seen in any form prior to the final pre-season friendly against Como on August 16th, and even then it could be only in a cameo role.
All of which makes his involvement from the start at Newcastle a week later difficult to envisage, but that doesn't mean the midfield make-up looks to be a given as the competitive Andoni Iraola era kicks off.
Ryan Gravenberch will surely be a shoo-in for a role in the side, but ahead of him there are questions.
With Mohamed Salah now a thing of the past, Victor Munoz also progressing in the World Cup and no other big-name winger seemingly on the horizon, it could be that Iraola begins with Dominik Szoboszlai out on the right wing, creating another vacancy in midfield.
That can be filled by Curtis Jones, who Iraola spoke warmly of at his introductory press conference and who the new Reds boss wants to keep. A start on day one of the new season would be quite the vote of confidence too.
So it'll be Gravenberch and Jones in the middle of the park, with Florian Wirtz as the number 10 as he takes up a role that Iraola and Liverpool need to commit him to.
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