Liverpool squad analysis – How is Arne Slot’s playing pick shaping up ahead of the new season? | OneFootball

Liverpool will begin pre-season preparations in earnest when the first-team squad reconvenes at the AXA Training Centre next week, and with July now upon us, this seems like an ideal time to assess the make-up of Arne Slot’s squad ahead of the new campaign.

A lot could still change, of course, as the transfer window remains open for another two months and the Reds pursue several targets such as Marc Guehi of Crystal Palace. There’s also likely to be a few more exits from Anfield, including the Bayer Leverkusen-bound Jarell Quansah.

When the market shuts at the end of August, Slot will want to have plenty of depth available to him so that he’s covered in every position – similar to how Casumo customers can browse new slot games available to UK players with their wide variety of gaming options.

With that in mind, let’s analyse the composition of the Liverpool squad as of the morning of 2 July.

Liverpool squad audit for 2025/26

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Goalkeepers

No other position has seen as much turnover at Liverpool in recent weeks, with Alisson Becker the only one of the Reds’ current four goalkeepers to have been at the club last season.

Caoimhin Kelleher has left for Brentford, with Vitezslav Jaros joining Ajax on loan. Their places have been taken by the arrival of Giorgi Mamardashvili, whose signature was acquired in 2024, along with the opportunistic signings of Armin Pecsi and Freddie Woodman.

Alisson will continue to be the clear first choice, but he isn’t short of cover if needed.

Right-backs

Liverpool are also nicely covered at right-back, even with the acrimonious exit of Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid, which was swiftly offset by the acquisition of Jeremie Frimpong from Leverkusen.

The Dutchman will compete with Conor Bradley for a starting berth, and Slot also has Calvin Ramsay to call upon. However, with the young Scot playing just 26 times across four different loan spells over the last two years, it seems almost certain that he’ll either be loaned out again or potentially sold outright.

Centre-backs

At the time of writing Liverpool have five senior centre-backs, but with Quansah set to leave and Rhys Williams unlikely to be considered by Slot, there’s effectively three options in this part of the squad.

Virgil van Dijk is obvious an automatic starter, with Ibrahima Konate partnering him…if he remains at Anfield this summer, amid speculation that he could be sold as he’s now into the final year of his contract, with no imminent sign of an agreement being struck.

Joe Gomez could therefore be a vital figure to keep around, even if the pursuit of Guehi indicates that the Reds’ longest-serving current player mightn’t start very often next season.

Left-backs

In contrast to the dearth of centre-back options, Slot has a surplus of choice on the left after the recent arrival of Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth.

Andy Robertson looks set to stay for now after rumours of a move to Atletico Madrid eventually faded. If the long-serving Scot remains at Anfield for the final year of his contract, we could viably see Kostas Tsimikas move on this summer, with the Greece international unlikely to be ecstatic about dropping to third in the pecking order.

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Defensive/central midfielders

This is another part of the Liverpool squad where summer exits seem likely, with Slot currently having six options for two starting berths, which are set to be occupied by Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister when fit and available.

Curtis Jones and Wataru Endo will almost certainly stay with the Reds for at least one more year, and one of those is set to start the Premier League opener against Bournemouth on 15 August, with the Dutchman suspended after his red card against Crystal Palace on the final day of last term.

Stefan Bajcetic is back at Anfield after his loan spells at Red Bull Salzburg and Las Palmas, while Tyler Morton may have put himself in the shop window after helping England’s under-21s to retain their European crown last week.

Attacking midfielders

The number 10 role in Liverpool’s starting line-up next season will be occupied by Florian Wirtz after his club-record arrival from Leverkusen, although Dominik Szoboszlai should still have plenty of opportunities to feature, given the positional adaptability of both players and the need to keep legs fresh during a hectic campaign.

Harvey Elliott could potentially be the fall guy, having already struggled for minutes even before the German’s £116m transfer, and the Englishman is a player in demand after his starring role in the Young Lions’ European under-21 triumph.

Wingers

While one wide attacking berth is very much locked down, the other could be fiercely contested.

The right-sided role is undisputably Mo Salah‘s, with Federico Chiesa and Ben Doak unlikely to get much of a look-in even with the Egyptian going to the Africa Cup of Nations over the festive period.

By contrast, the left-winger position gives Slot quite a dilemma to ponder. Does he go with Cody Gakpo or Luis Diaz, who were two of the Reds’ top three goalscorers last season?

Centre-forwards

Liverpool currently have two natural number 9s in Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, but neither were all that convincing in Slot’s first campaign at Anfield. The former is widely expected to leave this summer, while the latter has been unable to remain fit for an extended period of time.

We’ve seen Diaz deployed centrally in recent months, and that could be an option again next term, but ideally LFC will bring in a bespoke centre-forward in the coming weeks. Could that be Hugo Ekitike or even Alexander Isak?