The ESPN FC panel look at Liverpool’s signings in the summer transfer window and what it means for Liverpool’s EPL season.
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The two Premier League rivals will have an early chance to size each other up ahead of the new season which kicks off on August 14, when they meet in the International Champions Cup on Wednesday night.
Klopp saw his new club finish eighth in the Premier League in 2015/16, two places above Chelsea, who suffered a traumatic start to the season under Jose Mourinho.
The Premier League has announced the introduction of Premier League 2 for the 2016/17 season – but what is it and how will it work?
“The average age for a player to make their first team debuts is between 22 and 23. I just have to focus on what I can do in the games and in training”.
“[We must] work really hard in the present to build a great future for us, for the club, for the players, for me, for the fans, for all the people who work in Chelsea”, the new boss told ESPN. Chelsea host Sunderland on the last day of this season – the same fixture where they lifted the trophy in 2014-15.
In time, more of the world’s top players will return. For some players there is a gap that needs to be filled when they graduate from their academy and before they’re ready for first team football. The best way to develop players is have them playing at a level that will test them every week.
Premier League 2 has been created to boost the number of home grown players progressing into the first-team squad of the clubs involved.
David Unsworth, coach, Everton FC said: “We certainly feel it’s a step in the right direction”.
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Here are the results in full, going from the most hated to the least. (Chelsea will also be helped by the lack of European football of any kind.) Even Manchester United seems likely, although much will depend on how aging veterans like Ibrahimovic and Rooney perform.
