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There are three new teams for Liverpool to face after their promotion to the Premier League back in May, but how will they fare in 2024/25?
Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton got out of the Championship last season, with the latter beating Leeds in the playoff final.
They will be desperate to avoid the same fate as Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton in 2023/24, however, in terms of going straight back down at the first attempt.
Here’s the lowdown on Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton, and what to expect from them.
Leicester
Last season: Champions
TIA predicted finish: 17th
Best XI: Hermansen; Ricardo, Okoli, Faes, Justin; Ndidi, Winks; Mavidi, De Cordova Reid, Fatawu; Vardy
The view from Leicester
Jamie Thorpe (@thorpie54)
Where Leicester will finish: 17th. This is an incredibly tough question to answer, as for now there is still one massive question mark looming: how many points will Leicester be docked this season?
That being said, we just have to head in to what will be a horrendously tough season with a strange optimism/siege mentality outlook and hope we are able to drag ourselves over that line.
Survival is the only goal this year.
Where Liverpool will finish: 2nd. It’s going to be a really interesting season from an outsider’s perspective.
Slot simply couldn’t have bigger shoes to fill, but seems to have made a positive impact so far. Mo Salah will be key, obviously, and looks primed for a big season.
Who will win the league? I know it’s boring, but Man City. Their squad is still the strongest and the deepest and there are match winners everywhere.
I’d like to think Arsenal and Liverpool can push them all the way, but it’s hard to bet against them.
One player you wish Leicester would sign, realistically: Matt O’Riley from Celtic. He’s about as close to a Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall replacement as we are likely to find, and is fresh off the back of a very impressive season with Celtic.
Cost could be a stumbling block, but he is the exact profile we need.
Advice for visiting fans: The Counting House is the dedicated away pub near the ground and is a decent option.
What’s the mood like this summer and your optimism for the season ahead? You’d think a newly-promoted side bouncing back at the first time of asking would be full of confidence and excitement – sadly, this is not the case.
There is a grim acceptance that this will be a slog, but still, we’ve upset the odds many times before!
Ipswich
Last season: 2nd
TIA predicted finish: 19th
Best XI: Based on who is currently here and likely to be fit: Muric; Johnson, Woolfenden, Greaves, Davis; Morsy, Luongo; Burns, Chaplin, Hutchinson; Delap
The view from Ipswich
Joe Fairs (@BlueMondayITFC)
Where Ipswich will finish: 15th
Where Liverpool will finish: 4th
Who will win the league? Arsenal
One player you wish Ipswich would sign, realistically: Sammie Szmodics. The transfer saga for him has been ongoing for about a month and is driving us all to distraction!
Other than that, a high quality central midfield option to play alongside Sam Morsy, such as Ben Sheaf.
Advice for visiting fans: Get the train – it’s a five-minute walk to the ground from there, with a big away pub in between.
What’s the mood like this summer and your optimism for the season ahead? The mood around the town is as good as it’s ever been.
We know it will be a tough season, but now we have tied Kieran McKenna down to a long-term contract we go into the season with the hope he can continue to work his magic at Portman Road.
Southampton
Last season: 4th & Playoff winners
TIA predicted finish: 20th
Best XI: McCarthy; Sugawara, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Walker-Peters; Downes, Smallbone, Alcaraz; Armstrong, Brereton Diaz, Edozie.
It needs some serious work!
The view from Southampton
Luke Osman (@lukeosman_)
Where your team will finish: 19th. I say this a few weeks before the end of the window, and things can change, but we just look so weak.
There’s a strong argument that this side is worse on paper than the one that finished rock bottom in embarrassing fashion a couple years back, albeit with far greater spirit and character this time around.
I fancy Leicester to be just a touch worse than us.
Where Liverpool will finish: 3rd. I don’t see Liverpool testing Man City or Arsenal at the top of the league but I still think they’re strong, despite the inevitable teething problems that will come with a new manager.
I can’t see any team outdoing Liverpool and pipping them to 3rd, unless Chelsea and Man United magically fix their issues overnight, Spurs hugely overachieve, or Newcastle and/or Aston Villa go to another level.
Who will win the league? City. They didn’t hit top level last season and still ended up winning well. If Erling Haaland keeps himself fit, it will be by a landslide.
Arsenal will keep pace for a while, as they have for the past couple of seasons, but you can’t look beyond City.
One player you wish Southampton would sign, realistically: Aaron Ramsdale, Caoimhin Kelleher… even one of Chelsea‘s less favoured goalkeepers of their dozens!
Matt O’Riley from Celtic’s been touted, and as has your very own Fabio Carvalho – these are both really good players, but we have to fix the priority area first and that’s between the sticks.
Advice for visiting fans: Strap in – you’ll get some good games. We won’t sit back, we’ll take risks, and Russell Martin’s made that abundantly clear.
It will look messy at times, and at others it will probably look really slick. Either way, I think there will be plenty of goals at St Mary’s, and I can see high-scoring games, often with us unfortunately on the wrong end.
The away fans are also in a different part of the ground as of this season, so that will be a change for those who have been to St Mary’s previously!
What’s the mood like this summer and your optimism for the season ahead? There’s concern because we still need a number of new signings.
There’s a level of excitement because Martin’s instilled greater togetherness and positivity around the club, but it could easily fall apart if we receive a few heavy defeats early on, which is far from impossible with a tough trip to Newcastle opening our campaign.
It all really depends on the final weeks of the window.
2024/25 Previews and Predictions
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