Dream Liverpool line-up for Premier League opener after Luis Diaz decision and 3 transfers

Liverpool will travel to Ipswich Town on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season with Arne Slot's side having been handed a decent run of fixtures to begin the new campaign.

While there is a visit to Manchester United in the first few weeks, the first match against a likely title rival doesn't come until the trip to Arsenal at the end of October. Meanwhile, Arne Slot will fancy his team's chances in early games versus the likes of Brentford and Nottingham Forest, with both of those teams coming to Anfield.

Before the new Premier League season kicks off, though, Liverpool has a lot of decisions to make. New contracts for Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold still need sorting out while there are several major transfer calls coming.

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Luis Diaz continues to be linked with a move to Barcelona (and PSG has also been named as a possible option for him should he leave too) but whether anyone puts together a big enough transfer bid to tempt Liverpool remains to be seen. Ahead of the new campaign starting, Slot needs more attacking depth rather than less.

With that in mind, another forward should be on the agenda. Yankuba Minteh looked like a decent option before those links were played down while Johan Bakayoko has also been put forward as a possible option. Anthony Gordon, though he would be incredibly expensive, would be an excellent addition for the left flank if Diaz was to leave. The Daily Star named him as an option last month.

In an ideal world Liverpool would be able to sign a world-class holding midfielder, two years on from missing out on Aurelien Tchouameni and 12 months after bidding around $125m for Moises Caicedo. However, the market for top players in the No. 6 position appears to be limited and there is also Stefan Bajcetic to add into the mix after his return from injury.

The most pressing transfer need of all, though, is a new center-back. Leny Yoro has been of interest but appears to favor a move to Real Madrid so Liverpool will need to find an alternative. Someone with a high ceiling who is experienced but young would be perfect, though there are a lot of names milling about at the moment.

Even with a signing in each of those positions, though, the Liverpool team that lines up on the opening day of the season away at Ipswich is not likely to be a million miles away from the one that ended the last campaign. There isn't, after all, a need for wholesale changes.

Alisson Becker and his back four will likely be similar even if Trent Alexander-Arnold may yet be viewed as a midfielder, while there may only be a maximum of a couple of changes in front of them. In a dream scenario, a world-class holding midfielder would come in but no obvious name is out there at the moment. A new defender is a must, though they may not start straight away, and another attacker would be ideal in an already well-stocked forward line.

Possible Liverpool starting XI vs Ipswich on the opening day: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, New center-back, Van Dijk, Robertson; Elliott, New holding midfielder, Mac Allister; Salah, Jota, New forward (Gordon?).