All eyes will be on last season’s Premier League winners Crystal Palace this Sunday as they bid to kick off the new campaign with a trophy.
While the Community Shield has always really been regarded as a bit of a ‘curtain raiser’ for the new season, there is still silverware at stake and over the last few years it has been taken seriously.
Perennial winners such as Pep Guardiola have always fielded strong teams and played to win and I don’t expect Arne Slot to be any different. I wasn’t surprised to see the Eagles beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final either, so they will certainly be taking it seriously.
A Tale Of Two Different Summers
I think the gulf in quality between the two sides could be very telling though. While Palace have, so far managed to retain a lot of their squad, rumours persist about star player Eberiche Eze moving to Arsenal, while Liverpool themselves are involved in a tug of war with Newcastle United for England centre-back, Marc Guehi.
Both are likely to start against the Reds though, Liverpool have an embarrassment of riches in attack having strengthened significantly over the summer.
Florian Wirtz, who Liverpool broke the British transfer record to sign, is expected to start after encouraging displays in pre-season, while fellow new attacker, Hugo Ekitike will likely feature. The player who arrived from Eintracht Frankfurt looked sharp in the friendly against Athletic Bilbao.
It is a different story in both full-back positions for Liverpool as well. I think they have two of the best in the game on either side. Milos Kerkez was the best left-back in the Premier League last season, while Jeremie Frimpong has looked dangerous for Bayer Leverkusen over the last two campaigns.
First one at my new home. Thank you Anfield 🏠❤️ pic.twitter.com/DTyS2fCDYG
— Jeremie Frimpong (@JeremieFrimpong) August 4, 2025
I did, though, spot a potential weakness that Palace might be able to expose. Frimpong gets forward a lot and is possibly even less defensively-minded than Trent Alexander-Arnold, meaning that Eze could well work this to his advantage.
New signing from PSV Eindhoven on a free, Walter Benitez could well start in goal for the Eagles, while left-back, Borna Sosa, who arrived from Ajax for around £3 million may also be a slot in against the Reds.
First Trophy To Provide Momentum
After the summer’s transfer activity, I can see this being arguably the most competitive Premier League season for a long time and there could easily be four challengers for the title which could go down to the wire.
I think if the Reds retain it, this will be a remarkable achievement, though I bet they’ll be going for everything – especially the Champions League.
No club has ever won the quadruple, let alone other chances at silverware that come along, such as the Community Shield, European Super Cup and the Club World Cup. The game against Palace I think, will give us a clue as to whether Liverpool are ready for another assault on everything there is to win.
If everything clicks, it could well be embarrassing for the Eagles, though with a new-look attack, I would be surprised if everytihng falls into place that quickly. I’m still confident of a comfortable Reds win though – something like 3-0 though Palace might sneak a goal.