Van Dijk and Keita can take Liverpool back to the top
Liverpool continue to be frustrated in their efforts to sign key targets after RB Leipzig turned down a huge £66 million bid for Naby Keita. Leipzig owner Dietrich Mateschitz said Liverpool are wasting their time and he is not prepared to do business; they are not exactly in need of money as the club is bankrolled by the Red Bull energy drinks empire. It comes as Southampton continue to reject overtures for Virgil Van Dijk, and leaves Mohamed Salah and Chelsea youngster Dominic Solanke as the club’s only signings thus far. There is still plenty of time before the season begins in mid-August, but fans may be a little nervous as they see rivals start to land their top targets. Many bookmakers have responded by moving Liverpool below Arsenal as sixth favourites for the title, which does a disservice to the Reds and manager Jurgen Klopp, so it could be a good opportunity to prove them wrong and make a healthy profit by backing Liverpool to seize glory.
You can now get odds on trusted sportsbooks like 5Dimes as long as 14/1 on Liverpool to win the Premiership, while the longest odds available on Arsenal are 12/1. For Man City it is 2/1, for Man Utd and Chelsea it is 7/2 and the best odds on offer for Tottenham are 10/1. The bookmakers have clearly written Liverpool off before a ball has even been kicked, but there are many reasons why they could well be wrong.
Apart from a mid-season meltdown, the Reds were superb last season. By the turn of the year they were very much in contention for the title, and after that wobble they recovered to finish strongly and hold off Arsenal to finish fourth and qualify for the Champions League. At times they were unplayable and destroyed teams, and that is thanks to the rock and roll footballing ethic Klopp installed in his charges: high-intensity football, pressing hard and high up the pitch, forcing the opposition into errors and stealing the ball in dangerous positions, rapid counter-attacking, incisive dynamism in the final third. In Philippe Coutinho, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino they have wonderful forwards, but suffered every time Mane was injured and this ultimately cost them the chance to really contest for the title. Now they have another player cast from a similar mould in Salah, so they should never be lacking that pace and directness in the final third as at least one of them should typically be available. Using both in tandem, with Coutinho supplying through balls and Firmino using his intelligence to dovetail with them, could prove a frightening prospect for opposition defences.
The Reds clearly need to improve defensively as that was the big shortcoming last season, particularly against teams from the bottom half of the table. Keita and Van Dijk would revolutionise the team, instantly providing an exceptionally strong backbone and making Liverpool a far tougher nut to crack. Missing out on both would be hard to take, but you can’t always get what you want and if the clubs are unwilling to do business or if Van Dijk chooses to join another club instead, then alternative targets must be identified and secured. There are plenty of top defenders and holding midfielders out there and Klopp has an extensively knowledge of world football, so he will have a list in his mind. Make no mistake, Liverpool will improve ahead of the new campaign. There will be the added pressure of playing in Europe, but Liverpool’s players are full of energy and highly motivated, so they should be able to compete on both fronts without too much trouble. Their rivals are good teams but none are infallible, they all have their weaknesses, and Liverpool can relish their status as dark horses and surge up the table when the pressure is off. Klopp is moulding the team more and more into his ethos with every passing month, and he should soon be able to drive Liverpool back to the summit of English football.