The Premier League returns this weekend as the 2021/22 season gets underway, with Liverpool travelling down to newly-promoted Norwich City to start their season.
After a strong end to an injury-plagued campaign, Liverpool earned themselves a third-place finish in the Premier League last season. Now with the return of Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez, and the arrival of Ibrahima Konate earlier in the transfer window, the Reds look suited and booted for another title challenge.
Apart from Konate, the Reds have been quiet in the transfer market this summer despite being linked with a handful of players, with more focus around outgoings than incomings.
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Prospects such as Harry Wilson, Marko Grujic and Taiwo Awoniyi all left the club on permanent deals, whilst Gini Wijnaldum departed on the expiration of his contract.
So, what could happen in the 2021/22 Premier League season for Liverpool?
Will they battle with Manchester City once again for the title, or will it be another top-four fight for Jurgen Klopp's side?
To simulate the season, we used the Football Manager 2021 editor to update the teams involved in the Premier League, with each club having their updated transfers added into the database.
Let’s see what happened!
We simulated Liverpool's 2021/22 Premier League season
Overall, Liverpool had an exciting and improved season compared to their 2020/21 campaign, and individually, it was Roberto Firmino who stole the headlines throughout for the Reds, with the Brazilian being Liverpool's highest-rated player of the season.
The 29-year-old finished the season with an average rating of 7.97, the second-highest in the entire league behind Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.
Van Dijk was back to his best on his return to the starting XI as he registered the second-highest rating at the club with 7.76, and Fabinho followed closely behind with 7.66.
Not only was Firmino the outstanding player, but he also topped the charts for the Reds in goals and assists, ending his Premier League campaign with 28 goal contributions in 30 games.
The Brazilian scored 19 goals, making him the Premier League's top scorer, along with his nine assists in the simulation, made it the best individual season of Firmino's career.
Mohammed Salah, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota all followed Firmino in the top scorer chart with 12, 11, and nine goals respectively.
At the end of the 2021/22 season, Football Manager 2021 put together an overall best Liverpool XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics.
This is how the best Reds XI looked in 2021/22 according to FM21.
Full Liverpool best XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Gomez, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago; Mane, Salah, Firmino.
New signing Konate was unable to break the returning partnership of Joe Gomez and Van Dijk as the Frenchman missed out on the Liverpool best XI.
Here’s how the 2021/22 Premier League table looked at the end of May 2022.
Despite a much-improved season, the Reds point tally of 84 wasn't enough to win the Premier League as Chelsea took the title for the first time since 2016/17.
In comparison to last season, Liverpool were much better across the board. Jurgen Klopp's side won 15 more points, scored 19 more and conceded nine fewer.
The Reds also leapfrogged Manchester United and finished the season in second, with the Red Devils settling for fourth.
Would you be happy with this outcome at the end of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign? Let us know in the comments below!
