Liverpool star ramps pressure up on team-mates with prediction as Arne Slot reign begins

Curtis Jones has offered Liverpool supporters an exciting preview of the club’s first season of the Arne Slot era, suggesting he is confident they won’t suffer a post-Jurgen Klopp trophy drought. Liverpool enter the 2024/25 campaign surrounded by mass intrigue following Klopp’s successful nine-year reign as manager.

The early signs – four wins and no defeats with 10 goals scored and two conceded in five pre-season matches – are positive.

But it goes without saying that the pressure will be on Slot to deliver results from the get-go as he attempts to succeed one of the club’s greatest-ever bosses.

Liverpool’s lack of activity in the summer transfer window has been a cause for concern among some sections of the fanbase.

Reds captain Virgil van Dijk has even publicly nudged the club to complete some business before the August 30 deadline.

However, a lost race for Lille centre-back Leny Yoro and a failed swoop for Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi look increasingly likely to lead to no new arrivals.

The absence of a new defensive midfielder means Jones is in line for plenty of minutes this term, likely sharing the role with Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo.

Meanwhile, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Harvey Elliott represent Slot’s main options for more advanced players in his midfield three.

And Jones has come out to simmer worries about life after Klopp at Liverpool, providing encouragement ahead of the Premier League’s opening weekend.

“We are capable of anything and everything this season,” Jones told the Liverpool ECHO.

“I’m not just saying that in a way that I want to overly excite everybody. I’m saying that with confidence. You can see it on my face now.

“There might be people who say we should be looking at getting to finals or finishing in the top four.

“But this is a team where we know how good we are as individuals and how good we are as a team, and how close we are as a family.

“I don’t want to say we’re going to win the Premier League or Champions League, but we can be successful 100 per cent and success is silverware.

“I don’t know exactly what it will be, but it will be something – it has to be, I think it will be, and I know it will be.”

Liverpool commence their campaign against Kieran McKenna’s newly-promoted Ipswich Town at Portman Road in Saturday’s early kick-off.

Brentford’s visit to Anfield and a trip to Manchester United are also on the agenda before the September international break.