Newcastle and Manchester United were eliminated but their Premier League chances should improve. They are from Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Brighton, West Ham and Aston Villa. But if Liverpool qualify for the Champions League, the competition they return to will be very different. UEFA decided to expand the format and make it a Swiss model. This means using one large group table instead of eight smaller tables. Not all of them are necessary, but the changes don’t end there. Because more teams means more competition. In the group stage, Liverpool (or another team that qualifies) will play eight matches instead of six. Depending on where a player finishes at the big table, an additional elimination round may be required to advance. Quite simply, you will need a large team.
The Premier League is extremely competitive, with teams such as Aston Villa and Brighton enjoying great success recently. Liverpool need to improve again at home, but with more potentially important games to play (and more importantly, much more difficult games than this season’s Europa League fixtures). But Liverpool have an advantage over other teams. Jurgen Klopp has already built his squad with this in mind. No team has a front five as good as Liverpool, for example, and that will become even more important. In comparison, Manchester City, another team expected to qualify for the Champions League, have a much smaller squad. This has always been Pep Guardiola’s favourite, but that attitude may be softening as European football begins to change. Etihad have the means to make a difference, but 2024 could be a big summer.The same goes for many Premier League clubs. Bayern Munich and Real Madrid could easily challenge for Champions League promotion and spin more domestically, but with two domestic cups in England the pressure to qualify is already enormous. The situation will only get worse. Liverpool need more players. Despite the departure of Jarell Quansah, a new centre-back is still a must and more midfielders, even Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones, who both want more playing time, would be nice.
Even if one eye is deep, the other could one day compete for a new striker to replace Mohamed Salah. But while there is still work to be done to properly prepare for the new European reality, Liverpool and Klopp have an advantage over most of their rivals, including Manchester City. The Reds selection is already moving in the right direction.
At this stage of the season, with Liverpool sitting second in the Premier League, it would be tempting to think that Champions League qualification is fairly certain. The summer overhaul has had the desired effect and a title challenge is possible but a top four finish is likely. Depending on how the rest of England’s clubs fare in the remaining tournaments they participate in, a fifth-place finish could be enough to qualify for Europe’s top competition next season.
