Liverpool EPL title record bid, Man Utd eye redemption

LIVERPOOL begin their bid for a record 21st English title on Friday, with Arne Slot's revamped side installed as favourites to retain the Premier League crown.

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Arsenal and Manchester City are the main contenders to end Liverpool's reign, while Chelsea and Manchester United have questions to answer.

Here we look at five talking points ahead of the start of the 2025-26 season:

Champs Liverpool in pole position

When Liverpool host Bournemouth in the opening match of the topflight season, the Reds will put on display an expensively overhauled team carrying great expectations.

Liverpool haven't been crowned champions in successive campaigns since 1982-83 and 1983-84.

Emulating the feat of Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush and company would take the Anfield club past Manchester United into sole possession of the most English titles.

Chasing that target, while also competing for the Champions League, convinced boss Arne Slot to invest from a position of strength as Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez headlined a £256 million summer spree.

Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz have departed but Slot sees encouraging signs from a new-look attack that could yet include Newcastle striker Alexander Isak.

"Last season we had a lot of ball possession but that didn't always lead to promising situations. Now, we are better in creating than we were throughout the whole of last season," he said.

Can Arsenal get over the line?