Who Can Rival Liverpool in the New Premier League Season?

Why could the Premier League title race this season become a new cycle?

Liverpool is preparing to welcome the new season of the English Premier League with great ambition. Unlike the 2024-2025 season, which was very economical due to the acquisition of only Federico Chiesa from Juventus, Liverpool's manager Arne Slot has already established the club as the team with the highest spending in this summer's transfer market.

"Si Merah" has spent approximately 293 million euros or around IDR 5.56 trillion to bring in four key new players. They are Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, and Jeremie Frimpong. This transfer value represents the largest expenditure in Liverpool's history.

Liverpool has the potential to become the second team in the English Premier League to spend over 300 million euros in the transfer market. Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace) and Giovanni Leoni (Parma) are the latest targets for Slot to strengthen the very fragile defense during the 2025-2026 preseason.

If they officially bring in just one of those center-backs, Liverpool will become the second most expensive team in the history of the Premier League. However, this significant expenditure does not guarantee that Liverpool will dominate in England. This was reflected in the Community Shield match against Crystal Palace on Sunday (10/8/2025) last week.

Liverpool's frightening attacking play is not matched by the solidity of their defense. The team still has homework to do in integrating their icon, Mohamed Salah, with the new playing style of the Reds.

Despite already having Wirtz, Ekiteke, and possibly Alexander Isak, Salah remains the most intimidating figure for Liverpool's opponents in the 2025-2026 season.

While Liverpool is still racing against time to unify the cohesion of new players with the veteran stars who already understand the club's culture and the demands of playing at Anfield Stadium, other teams are showing themselves ready to threaten the throne of the Reds. Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City are the three biggest threats to Liverpool this season.

Which players have the best chance of dominating the goalscoring charts and winning the Golden Boot in the new Premier League season?

The summer transfer window in the English League this time has become the largest exodus for world-class strikers. The transfer market trends in England are always intriguing.

In previous seasons, central midfielders were once the most sought-after commodities by major clubs. The trend has shifted towards pure strikers. Many clubs are competing fiercely and are willing to spend trillions of rupiah amid a crisis in the supply of quality strikers.

Arsenal paved the way by acquiring Sporting CP forward Viktor Gyokeres. Shortly thereafter, two talented young strikers from the German League, Hugo Ekitike (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig), followed suit. Ekitike moved to Liverpool, while Sesko joined Manchester United.

The three players were brought in for a fee that could potentially reach 216 million pounds sterling (Rp 4.72 trillion). Three days before the opening match of the new season, which will take place on Saturday (16/8/2025) WIB, they remain on the list of the seven most expensive players in this transfer window in England.

The exodus automatically intensifies the competition for the Golden Shoe trophy or the award for the top goal scorer. Two names that have dominated this trophy over the past four seasons, namely Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) and Erling Haaland (Manchester City), should be on alert.

The biggest threat comes from Gyokeres. He returns to England with the status of the hottest goal machine in Europe. He has scored 97 goals for Sporting across all competitions since the 2023-24 season. The Primeira Liga and the English Premier League are clearly different, but his goal-scoring instinct cannot be overlooked.

Ekitike is equally intriguing. He has indeed only scored 42 goals throughout his professional career. However, the 23-year-old forward possesses the talent to exponentially increase his performance in an instant. It all depends on the environment. Liverpool, a team with a collection of the best offensive players, is very suitable to maximize his potential.

On the other hand, questions are directed at the recipient of the Golden Boot for 2022-2023 and 2023-24, namely Haaland. He will be playing without the assistance of creative midfielder Kevin De Bruyne this season.

What are the chances of promoted teams staying in the Premier League this season?

Burnley, Leeds, and Sunderland will begin their journey in the English League 2025-2026 in just a few days. This journey will be overshadowed by a trend or a kind of curse, namely becoming a "yo-yo" team that has just been promoted and then relegated again in the following season. Will they be able to survive and break this curse?

Reaching the Premier League is the primary ambition for clubs in the second tier. However, remaining in the top division is not an easy matter either. The widening gap between the quality of teams from different divisions poses a challenge for teams that are promoted.

In the last two seasons, three teams that were promoted to the English Premier League were immediately relegated back to the Championship. When Luton, Burnley, and Sheffield United were relegated right after their promotion from the Championship two seasons ago, this phenomenon merely seemed to repeat a moment that had occurred in the past, specifically in the 1997-1998 season.

However, when a similar thing happened to Southampton, Leicester City, and Ipswich Town last season, the yo-yo phenomenon seemed to have become a trend, or even a curse. Moreover, all three teams were relegated again without putting up much of a fight.

Football finance expert, Kieran Maguire, stated that money is clearly a contributing factor to promoted teams being relegated the following season. With the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), the financial ecosystem of the English League greatly benefits clubs that have already established themselves in that tier.

Established clubs are allowed to lose up to 105 million pounds over a three-year period, while newly promoted teams are often limited to losses of up to 61 million pounds. This disparity makes it nearly impossible for promoted teams to compete on an equal footing.

"Newly promoted clubs are at a disadvantage," he told BBC Sport.

Why could the Community Shield defeat be a warning sign for Liverpool?

Liverpool must relinquish their first trophy of the season after losing a penalty shootout to Palace, 2-3, at Wembley Stadium, London, on Sunday (10/8/2025) evening WIB. The team, managed by Arne Slot, took the lead twice in the first half but was always caught off guard when they began to feel comfortable. The match ended in a 2-2 draw after 90 minutes of regular time.

If asked who the most composed and calm figure in the Liverpool camp is, everyone would surely agree to point to Van Dijk. The 34-year-old team captain usually brings a sense of security to the backline of "The Reds." However, that figure seemed to vanish instantly at Wembley.

Van Dijk was repeatedly exposed by the speed of the Palace attackers. He made his first mistake by fouling Ismaila Sarr in the penalty area. The incident led to Palace's first goal. At the end of the match, Sarr scored the equalizer due to Van Dijk's misjudgment and positioning.

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher outlined the Reds' weaknesses. "They look great in attack, but they're vulnerable defensively, as we've seen throughout preseason. They concede a lot of goals due to their aggressive man-to-man defensive play and leaving a lot of space behind," he explained via X.

The man-to-man formation with a high defensive block was commonplace for Slot last season. The problem is, the current back four are not yet accustomed to playing together. Full-backs Jeremie Frimpong (right) and Milos Kerkez (left) only made their official debuts against Palace. Opponents can exploit this gap with lightning-fast transitions.

Frimpong's positioning is also questionable. He was standing about a foot from Liverpool's offside line. While his position didn't impact Palace's second goal, Frimpong's defensive understanding could be a problem in the future. At Bayer Leverkusen, he primarily plays as a winger in a 3-5-2 formation.

"Maybe we need a little adjustment in defense," said Slot after the match.

What are the abilities of Viktor Gyokeres, Arsenal's new spearhead?

The heading ability of Arsenal's new striker, Viktor Gyokeres, was once in doubt. This skill had never been prominent throughout his career. Who would have thought that Gyokeres is actually adept in aerial duels? He showcased this in Arsenal's final preseason match.

Gyokeres finally managed to unveil his "mask" for the first time in an Arsenal uniform. He scored the opening goal in the significant victory of Manager Mikel Arteta's team against Athletic Bilbao, 3-0, at the Emirates Stadium, London, on Sunday (10/8/2025) early morning WIB.

In Gyokeres' dictionary, scoring is a common occurrence. However, his method is unique. He broke through the goal of the Spanish national team's goalkeeper, Unai Simon, with a powerful header from a cross by midfielder Martin Zubimendi. Simon was helpless as the ball flew swiftly towards the upper right corner of the goal.

The heading ability of the 27-year-old striker seems to have emerged suddenly. Last season, with Sporting CP, he scored 54 goals across all competitions. However, none of the goals came from headers. All goals were scored with his feet, whether from open play or set pieces.

Throughout his career, Gyokeres has only scored eight goals with headers. This number is significantly lower than that of Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes (17 goals), who can only score during set-piece situations. Arteta seems to have won the lottery with that hidden ability.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was even impressed with the complete package that Gyokeres offers. "I like his goals, his threat, his ability to lock down two opposing center-backs. He is the type of player who, when given space, will eliminate you," he stated to Sky Sports.

Upon closer examination, Gyokeres's heading ability is not apparent due to a lack of exposure. Sporting relies more on the striker to create opportunities through transitions. They are relatively infrequent in making crosses, unlike Arsenal.