The computers have a funny way of dealing with the fixtures of a Premier League season, the last thing Liverpool would have wanted this season was to start their campaign away from home, against Stoke City. The Potters hammered 6 past Liverpool in the final game of last season, which was one of Liverpool’s worst defeats, ever.
Cue the new season and Liverpool have strengthened their team, maybe not in terms of overall talent but certainly in terms of personnel. The Reds have brought in many new faces but have seen a couple of big ones leave. Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling have left the club while old players such as Glen Johnson and Brad Jones have also left the club. This is a new dawn for Liverpool, yet again and Rodgers will be hopeful he can turn things around for the once giants of Europe.
Stoke City had a pretty decent season last year and most importantly, they do not play the hoof ball method of football that Tony Pulis had instilled into them. Mark Hughes has turned them into an attractive team to watch and a few new signings should give Stoke the push to expect better things this season.
Both clubs would be missing some key players, Stoke found out recently that their captain Ryan Shawcross required surgery and could miss a couple of months of action. They could also be missing Marc Wilson. Liverpool would be without Joe Allen, who tweaked his hamstring recently, they are without Daniel Sturridge and Jon Flanagan, both long term injury absentees.
The game would see a return for Glen Johnson who could face his old side, Liverpool though will have no room for emotions as they are expected to field a host of new signings in the first game of the season. Benteke, Firmino and Milner are all expected to start for the Reds.
Liverpool would be expecting a tough fight against Stoke, the home team would be chomping at the bit of having a go at Liverpool once again and might have a psychological advantage over the Reds. Brendan Rodgers says this is the perfect game for Liverpool to test their new team and exorcise some demons, this should be one cracking game for both sets of fans.
Predicted lineups:
Stoke City starting XI: Jack Butland, Glen Johnson, Philipp Wollschied, Phil Bardsley, Erik Pieters, Glenn Whelan, Steve Sidwell, Mame Diouf, Charlie Adam, Marko Arnautovic, Joselu
Liverpool starting XI: Simon Mignolet, Nathaniel Clyne, Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren, Joe Gomez, James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Jordon Ibe, Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho, Christian Benteke
Prediction:
The first game of the season is always tough to predict, especially when one team has completely revamped their squad. Even though Liverpool have spent a ton of money rejigging their squad, Stoke should provide them a great test. The game would be a tight affair but Liverpool should just about hold onto a point against tough opposition.