Surprises on EPL Kick-off – Can LFC Follow?
The 2016/17 Barclays Premiership season got off to an interesting start this afternoon. At long last, there’s something to do on a Saturday afternoon. Not least tomorrow afternoon when Liverpool arrive at the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal.
Already we saw reigning champions Leicester City defeated in their first game 2-1, away to newly promoted Hull City. Surprise? Perhaps not, considering one Premier League win doesn’t exactly propel one into the echelons of the invincible.
It was a good day for those doing the football Pools game – if indeed it still exists – with three 1-1 draws. Everton, Middlesbrough and Southampton all being held at home by Tottenham, Stoke and Watford respectively. Manchester City on the other hand provided the only other win of the day, beating Sunderland 2-1 to give Pep Guardiola his first win in the Premiership.
Tomorrow we have Bournemouth welcoming Manchester United to Dean Court. That’s going to be a baptism of fire for Eddie Howe’s men with newly installed Jose Mourinho looking to make a statement with his new club.
Then at 4:00 pm we have the game of the season so far! The world’s favourite team Liverpool, go to the Emirates to take on Arsenal. Both sides in need of three points for different reasons. The Reds of Merseyside into order to confirm the perceived improvement to their squad after some solid business over the summer. The impressive Sadio Mané, and Georginio Wijnaldum among them. Seven new players will in all don the famous red shirt this season. Or Lime green in the case of tomorrow.
The Gooners and the ever-frugal Arsene Wenger, on the other hand have only brought two new players to the club. Rob Holding from Bolton Wanderers and Granit Xhaka from Borussia Mönchengladbach.
I have to say, this is shaping up to be one of the closest campaigns in recent times. What I can’t say is what I think of Liverpool’s chances. Yes, they’ve spent reasonably well. They beat Barcelona 4-0 in the highlight of a grueling pre-season programme, but then promptly lost to Mainz 05 by the same score the following day! Jürgen Klopp said in his pre-Arsenal press conference “… In this moment everything is possible…” Which may well be true.
However, I look more at “likelihood“. I might buy a lottery ticket next week. Will I win the jackpot? Well, it’s possible otherwise why bother? But is it likely? Sadly not. The same can be said for Liverpool’s title credentials. Is it likely they’ll win it come May? Not really, I fear. Of course it’s possible. If they play like the “team” Klopp speaks of, then why not? In realistic terms though, it’s unlikely.
Still, optimistic I remain. I do feel the side can do better than last season, and by a long way. I believe he top five is up for grabs. Joel Matip, Ragnar Klaven and Marko Grujic have all been impressive as well as Mané and Wijnaldum. If they play as well as we know they can, then intuitively they represent an upgrade on last season’s team. Intuitively one expects a higher finish. Should Klopp succeed in replacing the errant Alberto Moreno, then I think that in itself may be worth a few points in the trickier fixtures.
Come 5:45 tomorrow, we’ll have some idea what to expect. As usual, I don’t make predictions. However, my expectations for this season are toward the middle or likely lower end of the top five.
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