No.6: Neil Atkinson (Anfield Wrap)

Who’ll win the league?

Liverpool.

Where will Liverpool finish?

First.

What do you think of the new additions to the Liverpool squad?

I think there is lots to be excited about. The signing of Georginio Wijnaldum is a really interesting one. If you look at Sadio Mane, one thing we were short of last year was genuine pace and I think that resolves that issue in the wide area. The other thing that Wijnaldum and Mane do is put the ball into the back of the net, which is major for us and something else that we were lacking. At times it doesn’t take a lot to change the axis of a football team. We saw that against Barcelona. When Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana picked the ball up they had three options ahead of them with the likes of Mane, Roberto Firmino, Divock Origi and whoever else plays in that position. We also have players who can arrive into the box like Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson, Marko Grujic and even Emre Can. I am excited and I do think the summer buys do change things a bit and Liverpool will have that bit more cutting edge.

What are the expectations as Jürgen Klopp prepares for his first full season in charge of the club?

I think expectations are that Liverpool play a certain way and I think it’s about process. There is now a general acceptance that there is a process and if Liverpool’s process goes as well as I hope it does then we have got every chance to be there or thereabouts with eight games to go. A lot of it then comes down to what you do in those eight games, but I think the process is the key part. I think people want to see a side that looks like a Jürgen Klopp side, a side that plays football with intensity, determination and with focus. That’s what people want to see. Everyone knows that Liverpool could finish first or could finish eighth but you could say that for practically anyone in the league last season. Take last season’s top four. If you said this season’s top four would be Chelsea, Liverpool, West Ham and Manchester United, well none of those sides finished in the top four last season. A lot of it will come down to specific games and Liverpool have got as good a shout as anybody else. There are other sides who have slightly better players but I think a lot of the time you can make up for that with nous, determination and a certainty about what it is you are all doing. If Liverpool can get into that mode then that is the expectation I think. People want to see exactly what a Liverpool team looks like and what it will look like for the next three or four years.

Surprise package team?

That’s a hard question in many ways because Leicester City have somewhat changed the game for surprise packages. I do think Middlesbrough may well secure themselves somewhere between eighth and 12th place quite quickly. I don’t see them battling against relegation. The Riverside will be a difficult place to go and they have got a certain amount of ability in their side.

Relegated?

Hull, Watford and Crystal Palace, unless Palace buy a quality centre-forward.

LFC player to watch?

Divock Origi.

One hope as a reporter this season?

That Liverpool, at worst, are five points off the pace with 10 games to go.