It is 86 days since Aymeric Laporte’s header from a Riyad Mahrez corner crushed Liverpool’s title hopes.
That they were alive, midway through a sweltering first half on the final day of a gruelling Premier League season, was remarkable in itself. Liverpool kept pace with the most relentless team the English top flight has ever seen.
Jurgen Klopp’s band, including two of the three golden boot winners, the PFA Footballer of the Year, the Golden Glove winner and who lost just once all term, gave everything. And they still couldn’t stop Manchester City.
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Can they repeat that effort again? Is it possible for a team that hasn’t added a single player who will contest a place in a first eleven that will have to play even more games this season can go toe-to-toe with Pep Guardiola’s almost all-conquering City?
That is just one of the fascinating questions that underlines why we are fully justified in our excitement about the new season.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has asked a few pertinent ones about his job title. Does he have the resources to keep overachieving without the significant investment he craves at the Champions League finalists?
Will Frank Lampard be a success at Chelsea? He has the will of the support, he has fostered a positive atmosphere (it was remarkably different under Maurizio Sarri, his predecessor), and integrated the club’s young talent pool. Yet, no one knows whether Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic can compensate for the loss of Eden Hazard, who was involved in 31 goals last season.
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Saturday is GameDay on talkSPORT, beginning in east London
- West Ham vs Manchester City (Saturday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT
- Leeds vs Nottingham Forest (Saturday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Crystal Palace vs Everton (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Tottenham vs Aston Villa (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT
How will Wolves fare with the extra 12 games the Europa League is to demand before Christmas? Can Leicester live up to the pre-season hype that has surrounded their recruitment of Brendan Rodgers and early summer form?
Will Chris Wilder’s innovative system of overlapping centre-backs at Sheffield United be exposed in the Premier League?
Who of Neal Maupay [at Brighton], Jamal Lewis [at Norwich] and Jack Grealish [at Aston Villa] is going to negotiate the huge step up from the Championship to the best league in the world?
And there lies the reason it is regarded as such.
The Premier League keeps us guessing. Every balmy summer Saturday, all throughout freezing mid-winter, and right to the last moment of the 380th match. And we cannot wait to find out the answers.
Saturday is GameDay on talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2 as we become your go-to destination for all the Premier League action. We’ll bring you three LIVE Premier League commentaries across all time slots on Saturday – 12.30pm, 3pm and 5.30pm – delivering award-winning coverage to more GameDay listeners than ever.