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Big expectations for 2016/17

The 2015/16 season may have ended on a sour note but there is plenty to be optimistic about looking forward to the next campaign. However, while manager Jürgen Klopp has certainly gained popularity, there is no doubt that the fans are expecting big things over the next 12 months and nothing less than Champions League qualification will satisfy the masses.
 
Liverpool ended the season with a traumatic 3-1 Europa League final defeat to Sevilla, having led 1-0 after a comfortable first-half performance. But there was much positivity to be taken from the season on reflection, with epic European nights to rival some of Anfield’s most euphoric and taking Manchester City to penalties in the League Cup final.
 
The major disappointment is finishing eighth in the Premier League, two places lower than the 2014/15 season, and missing out on Europe altogether. However, given the unsettling period when Brendan Rodgers was replaced by Klopp in October 2015, it was a generally good recovery, and Klopp will now be looking to take that progression further. All the signs are certainly there and a summer of key signings is expected to ready Liverpool for an assault on the Premier League, with little to no distractions.
 
Liverpool’s most successful recent season was when they narrowly missed out to Manchester City for the Premier League title in 2013/14. That season the club also felt the benefit of no European competition, and with relatively early exits from both domestic cup competitions, were able to concentrate solely on the Premier League title race from mid-February onwards.
 
Klopp will be mentally preparing his squad for a similar approach to next season, and with odds already being set by football betting companies for Liverpool to win the Premier League in 2016/17, he has wasted no time in supplementing his squad in readiness for a pivotal campaign.
 
Since the defeat to Sevilla, Klopp has already secured the services of 22-year-old German goalkeeper Loris Karius, using contacts at his former club, Mainz, to complete the deal. Karius is added to two deals that Klopp completed in the January transfer window, with Schalke centre-back Joel Matip and Red Star Belgrade midfielder Marko Grujic signing pre-contract agreements to join in the summer.
 
In addition, Klopp will almost certainly be looking for a big name striker to supplement the promise shown in the closing weeks of the season by Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge, with Danny Ings returning from long-term injury, Christian Benteke seemingly out of favour and the misfiring Mario Balotelli returning from an unsuccessful loan at AC Milan and looking likely to be shipped out.
 
Fans will certainly be clinging to the hope that a season uncluttered by European competition can bring some reward and a serious dent in the Premier League table. After Leicester City’s amazing success in 2015/16, the big guns will be flexing their muscles to re-establish their standing at the top of the English game.


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