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Defensive midfield: Fabinho
Fabinho gives Liverpool another layer of safety and purity. Due to a series of injuries last season, he was deployed as a central defender alongside Nat Phillips, Jordan Henderson and a lot of other players. While he did an incredible job considering the circumstances, he was itching to play in midfield and immediately showed his class when he returned to his natural position.
He pretty much slots in as a third central defender and that is another reason why the full-backs can afford to push higher up the pitch. That little trio there with Van Dijk and Gomez can be of huge value in bringing Liverpool back to where they want to be. Be it a sliding tackle or a toe-poke, he's very quick to snuff out danger and is a clean pincher of the ball - I've always liked that about him.
Liverpool will be up against Manchester City again next season and will need to hit the ground running immediately. Having Fabinho back to his best and in his preferred position will go a long way in ensuring that Klopp and co play to their full potential.
Central midfield: Jordan Henderson
Jordan Henderson will get a break after the European Championships but he'll probably come back earlier than you'd expect him to. He can prove his fitness at the start of the season and finally make his much-awaited Liverpool return after sustaining an injury against Everton in February. He does have competition, but considering his experience, reputation, knowledge, nuance and the fact that he's club captain, it's hard to see Jurgen Klopp choosing Curtis Jones or anyone else ahead of him.
Jones has shown brilliantly at times, but he's still a bit inconsistent and is unlikely to start the season. Henderson, on the other hand, has seen it all in his Liverpool career and it goes without saying that he was missed at the business end of last season. Not only did Liverpool have a disruption at center-back, but also in central midfield after injuries to Henderson and Fabinho. The fact that their captain was missing at an important part of the season was a big loss for Liverpool, so their fans will be delighted that he's back for the start of the new season.
Henderson triggers Liverpool's pressing game - the gegenpressing comes from him. If not directly, he makes his voice heard to those in front of him, allowing someone like Roberto Firmino to press from the front. Everyone is hugely respectful of him now but that wasn't always the case, so he's worked his way to the top. People realize that there's much more to him than what they see on the pitch, he's become a hugely influential figure in the world of football.
There are ongoing talks about a new contract for Henderson and we'll have to wait and see how that goes, but if he's fit and firing, he makes my preferred Liverpool XI.
Central midfield: Thiago Alcantara
I remember Thiago Alcantara's Liverpool debut. He came on as a second-half substitute against ten-man Chelsea and absolutely ran the show - he even broke the Premier League passing record if I'm not wrong! We saw at Bayern Munich what he was capable of and the wider audience was aware of his passing range, but it didn't quite happen for him after an impressive debut.
People were beginning to ask if that was really the Thiago Liverpool signed, but he slowly found his feet in the second half of the season and delivered a string of outstanding displays in the center of the park. He made some adjustments to his gameplay to suit Jurgen Klopp's demands and finally seemed at home at Anfield at the business end of the season.
Thiago has a much greater awareness of what's expected of him and will be raring to go again. He knows he can deliver what's required and will look to carry on from where he left off last season.
Attack: Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah
Diogo Jota enjoyed an incredible first season at Liverpool, but I fancy Sadio Mane to get the nod ahead of him alongside Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah. He wasn't at his best in the 2020-21 campaign, but I put it down to fatigue, as he didn't have enough rest. The season caught up with Mane, so we weren't seeing the best of him.
Liverpool's barren spell at home that saw them lose six successive games at Anfield began with a loss against Burnley. I was there that night and it has to be said that they absolutely battered Burnley despite ending up on the losing side. Everyone spoke about Liverpool's defensive issues which in turn had a knock-on effect on the midfield, but the truth is their attack misfired as well.
They didn't score for a while at Anfield and had their fair share of problems upfront, with Jota injured for a sizable chunk of the season and the likes of Mane and Roberto Firmino misfiring. Speaking of the Brazilian, he was underwhelming for large parts of the season but showed flashes of brilliance at the business end of the campaign. Firmino has never been looked at as the goalscorer; he's the creative hinge that connects the dots with Mane and Salah expertly.
As for Salah, he finds ways to maintain his goalscoring record even if he doesn't have a good game and that's his biggest strength. You can't treat footballers like machines - they need to be given enough rest to sustain their performances over the course of a season.
Liverpool have options in attack, but I believe Klopp will stick with the old guard of Mane, Firmino and Salah to kick-start the 2021-22 campaign. Jota, as I mentioned earlier, is a fantastic player who has got it all and could well come under consideration for a place in the starting XI. He's a very clever operator who can score goals as well as create them, so he's another intriguing option for the manager. Klopp also has the option of playing a 4-2-3-1, with a midfielder making way for an attacker in the starting XI.
Jota will undoubtedly come under consideration for a start against Norwich City, but who will Klopp turn to for Liverpool's season opener at Carrow Road? We'll just have to wait and see.
Also Read: Paul Merson's 5 bold predictions for the 2021-22 Premier League season
