Florian Wirtz lines up for his Anfield debut, having picked up an assist in Liverpool’s defeat in the Community Shield against Crystal Palace. Wirtz set up fellow new signing Hugo Ekitike, who drilled home from just outside the box, and this could be the start of a connection that we begin to see regularly from the new pair. 

Wirtz registered 30 goal contributions across his 45 appearances in all competitions for Bayer Leverkusen last season (16 goals, 14 assists). This equal split in goal contributions would suggest that Wirtz is just as much of a threat taking aim at goal, as he is when trying to create chances for his team-mates.

Wirtz’s underlying numbers also support him getting a goal contribution on his competitive debut at Anfield. He averaged 1.49 shots on target per 90 and 2.18 chances created per 90 in the Bundesliga last season. Another angle to keep an eye out for Wirtz here is how likely he is to travel with the ball compared to Dominik Szoboszlai:

Wirtz: 3.13 successful dribbles per p/90 (24/25 Bundesliga)

Szoboszlai: 0.76 successful dribbles p/90 (24/25 PL)

This should offer Liverpool more penetration through the middle of the park when Wirtz is able to pick up the ball in pockets just behind the midfield of the opposition.

Ekitike scored and had three shots in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace in the Community Shield, which they went on to lose on penalties. Ekitike is not quite the finished product, but if he starts the season as Liverpool’s main striker, his shot count could be off the charts by the end of the campaign.

Ekitike had 117 shots across his 33 appearances for Frankfurt in the Bundesliga last season (4.08 per 90). This is an incredible average to be able to maintain across a season and tells us that Ekitike isn’t afraid to take aim, sometimes from improbable angles, with his low-driven effort against Crystal Palace a perfect example of the variety of efforts he can produce.

Liverpool averaged 17.05 shots per game in the Premier League last season, so service won’t be an issue for Ekitike, who will also have Florian Wirtz behind him (2.18 chances created per 90), which is a partnership which should begin to flourish as we work our way into the new Premier League season.

Slot is platforming Frimpong as almost a right winger with the licence he has to push up the pitch and offer support for Mohamed Salah in a very different way than Trent Alexander-Arnold did last season. I’m still not fully convinced by the defensive abilities of Frimpong up against a Premier League quality of attack, but he’s certainly more than capable of delivering in an attacking sense.

Frimpong registered 10 goal contributions across his 25 appearances for Bayer Leverkusen last season (five goals, five assists) while averaging 1.32 shots per 90. We can expect these shot numbers to increase this season, seeing as Liverpool will dominate the majority of their opponents in the league.

Frimpong scored and had two shots in Liverpool’s Community Shield defeat against Crystal Palace. This selection will be aided by Super Sub throughout the season, with the most obvious replacement for Frimpong being Conor Bradley, who averaged 1.20 shots per 90 across his seven Premier League starts last season.

This is arguably the toughest assignment that Truffert could have asked for on his Premier League debut. He’ll be up against Mohamed Salah and Jeremie Frimpong as he acts as the replacement for Milos Kerkez, who lines up on the other side, having joined Liverpool from Bournemouth this summer.

Truffert averaged 0.82 fouls committed per 90 in Ligue 1 last season, but we can expect this metric to increase here and throughout the season as he settles into a Bournemouth side that averaged 13.8 fouls committed per game in the Premier League last term.

Mohamed Salah and Frimpong combine for 2.24 fouls won per 90 and are a duo that can cause Truffert plenty of problems. Salah was hauled down three times in this fixture last season and was a key man overall in creating more chances than any other player in the game (six).