Premier League 2022-23 preview No 12: Liverpool

Guardian writers’ predicted position 2nd (NB: this is not necessarily Andy Hunter’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position 2nd

Odds to win the league (via Oddschecker) 5-2

There is a touch of the unknown about Liverpool this season, unusually, with Jürgen Klopp starting a first full campaign at Anfield without Sadio Mané and looking to a pool of young talent led by Darwin Núñez to compensate for the undeniable loss of the Senegal international. Not in doubt, however, is Liverpool’s position as the best-equipped team to deny Manchester City a hat-trick of Premier League titles.

Dreams of an unprecedented quadruple evaporated in the final seven days of last season – serving as an extra incentive this time out – but Klopp’s side are evolving nicely with Luis Díaz and Ibrahima Konaté impressing in their debut campaigns. This summer’s business - signing Núñez before allowing Mané to leave, finally securing Mohamed Salah’s services for another three years and removing any contract distractions at a stroke, landing right-back cover for an initial £4m in Calvin Ramsay then selling Neco Williams for four times that price – was a further demonstration of the well-run operation at Anfield despite the departure of sporting director Michael Edwards.

With the Mané-Roberto Firmino-Salah era over, and given the attributes of the Uruguayan Díaz plus Fabio Carvalho, Klopp has suggested there could be more versatility to Liverpool’s attack than the 4-3-3 system that has served him so well. In Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones, he has two other young assets ready to make the next step. But there is a significant responsibility on Núñez. How the 23-year-old adapts to his first season at Anfield and in the