The Liverpool attack: Where will all the pieces fit?

With the addition of Sadio Mane, yet another player has been thrown into an already crowded mix of attacking talent at Anfield. With Jürgen Klopp starting his first full season as Liverpool manager, the burning question is simple: How will all the pieces fit in?

Last season, 10 different players made double-digit league starts for Liverpool in either the midfield or forward positions. So if you think the Reds have a lot of bodies up front after the recent signing of Sadio Mane, that’s probably why.

In part, the lack of attacking continuity was due to both injuries and the fact that Jürgen Klopp basically had a free year to throw different things at the wall and see what stuck, taking over midway through what had already felt like a lost season.

With 14 (by my count) players that could be in the mix for the six midfield and forward spots, let’s run down the Liverpool roster and try to make sense of what Klopp will do come Match Day 1.

Sadio Mane

We won’t spend too much time speculating on Mane, it’s been done plenty already. However, the signing makes plenty of sense — and seemed to come at a reasonable price. In two years at Southampton, Mane was productive, healthy and showed excellent chemistry with Shane Long and Graziano Pelle. Also, this has to be the signing that confirms that the Saints are indeed Liverpool’s farm club. Right?

Defensive Midfield

There’s a cloud of uncertainty that hangs over every single club heading into the season, and more often than not, experience tends to win out when it comes to the starting XI. Don’t be surprised to see Jordan Henderson and James Milner anchoring the midfield when the Reds visit Arsenal on Match Day 1.

Henderson, in particular, has deserved a lot of the criticism he’s gotten at Liverpool and as an English national, but it’d be shocking to not see him lead the team out of the tunnel on opening weekend. Milner, solid as ever, had a predictably steady first year at Anfield. He led the team with 11 league assists.

The other name to watch here is Emre Can. Just 22, the German has looked impressive through two years at Anfield and would seem a natural fit in the holding position. But even if the Milner/Henderson duo earn the starts, that doesn’t immediately relegate Can to the bench. After Nathaniel Clyne, the other three spots on the back line are shaky, and Can could slide into one of those as well.

Attacking Midfield

The No. 10 is always a great place to start the attacking midfield conversation, and that of course would be Philippe Coutinho, he of the spectacular goal(s). The two-time reigning Liverpool Player of the Year will no doubt continue to give goalkeepers nightmares from long-range.

Staying in Coutinho’s home country of Brazil, one of the wings figures to be occupied by Roberto Firmino, whose EPL debut season last year had to be a nice surprise for Liverpool fans. A relatively unheralded international, but a proven scorer in the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim, Firmino’s league stat line of 10 goals and seven assists was one of the biggest positives for the Reds.

Sticking with the ex-Southampton theme, Adam Lallana will likely get the first crack on the opposite wing. He may lack the directness of some of his teammates, but the English midfielder is a proven match-winner. In his final year with the Saints, Lallana scored nine league goals and made PFA Team of the Year. Liverpool is still awaiting that kind of production from him.

Striker

Daniel Sturridge may not be a natural as a true No. 9, and the 20-goal season that he posted as Luis Suarez’s sidekick in 2013-14 won’t happen again if he can’t stay healthy. Still, his scoring rate makes him undroppable. The last two seasons at Liverpool, the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016 — one fact remains — Sturridge can score goals despite being on struggling teams.

He looked healthy in the Euros and now with a full offseason to prepare, it’s all set up for Sturridge to at least contend in what will be a wide open race for the Golden Boot.

Subbing In

Christian Benteke, Jordan Ibe and Divock Origi all made more appearances off the bench than in the starting XI in EPL action last season. With Ibe and Origi clearly still developing, Benteke becomes the most interesting name here. Though the Belgian had a chance to grab the striker’s role by the horns early last season and didn’t take it, nine league goals in his Liverpool debut season is hardly a bad return.

In four years as a Premier League regular, Benteke has played in over 100 games and has scored more than 50 goals. He’s productive. He’s also hardly a mystery. Benteke can be an effective sub for Liverpool because of his ability to absolutely punish weak CBs physically, something no player at the club can do quite as well. And if Klopp is lucky, he can also do this.

On the Way Out?

Joe Allen and Danny Ings are solid players, but they also seem the two most likely to be deemed surplus. Allen is currently thriving at the Euros as part of an inspiring Wales side, but last season, his 17 league appearances were the lowest total he’s had in four years at Anfield. He’s already been linked with West Bromwich Albion and his boyhood club, Swansea City.

It’d be an understatement to say Ings was unlucky under Klopp last year. In Klopp’s first training session, Ings suffered a torn ACL and missed all but the final game of the season. Reports have suggested that Klopp is a fan of Ings, but with so many clubs at the bottom half of the table that could benefit from his services, a loan for the right price would make a lot of sense.

For now though, we’ll say Allen is likely out and Ings remains in at Liverpool.