Ask Arne Slot that he thinks are the greatest rivals of Liverpool for the Premier League title of this season, and he will tell you that it is too early to say.
But of those he calls the “usual suspects” is expected to push the Reds this term completely, with opening results a considerable indicator of whom a significant threat pays.
Arsenal are two victories of two, Chelsea was especially impressive on Friday evening football, while Tottenham might be ready to make a surprise among new boss Thomas Frank after back-to-back successes.
As for Liverpool itself, the opening evening ended in a flowering with a 4-2 victory over Bournemouth, although the game was not without challenges.
Slot is aware of his side, complete with a revision of £ 300 million, is not yet the completed article, and told Sky Sports how happy he was that his players could restore a “difficult position” against the cherries, who need late goals from Federico Chiesa and Mo Salah to get the victory. New signing Hugo Ekitike also made a stir.
Liverpool would of course have been to the favorites for silverware this season without the extravagant editions of this summer. The champions are the biggest spenders of the Premier League in this summer's transfer window, while they want to build on the prosperous first season of Slot.
Is it enough to ward off the competition, or is the club on the market for more? “No, I am very happy with the team we have now,” says Slot. “Very happy, as you could see, also on Friday evening, that we could influence the bank's game, as we did so often last season.
“So yes, happy, but as always, if it is still 10 days to go, I don't know how long the market is open, we will always look.”
The obvious follow -up then comes, given the way in which the Fixture computer has blessed us. Where is the club on Newcastle Wilaway Alexander Isak?
And is there an opportunity – following an explosive explanation of the striker, who believes that his relationship with Newcastle is irreparable – that Liverpool would like to benefit?
“I think the way Hugo Ekitike started his career in Liverpool, we have to talk about him and say how well he did,” Lock continues, the conversation away from the possibility that Isak will participate before the window closes on 1 September.
“It would be unfair to him to talk about other goals if they are actually there. And if they are there, we will not talk about it in public. But I think it should be the most important thing that we have about how well Hugo has done so far.”
Isak has dominated a large part of the structure into the meeting on Monday evening between Liverpool and Newcastle, live on Sky Sports. And yet the Sweden International will not play any role in the game itself.
The isak -shaped hole in the Eddie Howe team is a big problem without a resolution close by. Howe himself called the situation “losing” on Friday.
Is Slot glad that his side – who have arrived for some criticism in the early season for defensive problems – do not have to be confronted with Isak in St James' Park?
“He scored against us in the League Cup final and he scored against us in the road game [last season].
“So yes, if they have him, he is a big, big threat, but like any other team in the Premier League, if someone is injured or not, it is not as if the manager has to look at his couch and says:” Now I have no one anymore to play “.
“For them to play [Anthony] Gordon, [Anthony] Elanga and [Harvey] Barnes and still have [Jacob] Murphy on the couch like last time, maybe it will change this game, it tells you how much quality they still have available. “
Slot is certainly busy than ever to deliver success in his second season in Anfield, against the background of a first title since 2019/20 and the number of new talent available to him.
Does the current Isak -Saga add a little more to this next meeting? “The atmosphere was great last year [at St James’ Park]And the intensity levels of their players were great, and there were no conversations at the time. They deserved it completely to win the League Cup final of us.
“So yes, if they could even add intensity to those two games, that would be very special. Even if we had been to our best, I would be far from certain that we could have defeated that Newcastle team on that day because they were excellent.
“What I do know is that we should be much better than we were. At the end of the season it was more difficult and harder for us to win our game. I think we had to trust our set pieces a few times.”
Newcastle went 17 Premier League matches without a victory against Liverpool, dating from December 2015 under Steve McClaren. How how did that statistics would like to tackle. His work is infinitely harder without his star man.
View Newcastle vs Liverpool Live on Sky Sports on Monday Night Football; kick -off 8 p.m.