Very early days but is this the line up as it stands?

I may be a little early with this piece bearing in mind that Felipe Anderson is still a couple of days away and according to the manager there could well be more players arriving at the club.

But with five new faces on board it’s an interesting exercise to trying working out the sort of team we could see lining up at Liverpool on our opening day.

The only certain aspect of the manager’s team planning as a rule is that he likes two up top – positions which look certain to be filled by Arnie and Chicharito.

Elsewhere, the likes of Pedro Obiang, Mark Noble, Cheik Kouyate,  Arthur Masuaku and even Zaba  may find themselves out in the cold as the competition for places looks seriously hot.

Yarmelenko looks likely to go down the left with Anderson right but central midfield begs some questions where Declan Rice may find himself involved as I’m not sure the manager will trust 21 year old Diop and teenager Dec at the heart of defence as a regular partnership. We’ll see.

My preferred team is short on a ball winner in the middle of the park so should Nobes, Cheik or Pedro find themselves involved I’m not going to be unduly surprised unless of course somebody else who has yet to arrive is in the manager’s mind.

This could be the team which would see only five of last year’s starters involved. SEND US YOUR TEAMS!

4-4-2: Fabianski; Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Anderson, Rice, Wilshere, Yarmolenko; Arnautovic, Chicharito.