Premier League football is back in our lives once again this weekend, although to be perfectly honest, it hasn’t really been gone for all too long.

Less than two months ago we saw the final game of the 2019/20 campaign take place, and less than one month ago, we were watching the UEFA Champions League Final. Still, now isn’t the time to dwell on the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the world, because we want to instead focus on the current state of affairs in the City of Liverpool.

The red half of Merseyside will head into the new season as the Champions of England, whereas the blue half will be hoping to thrive in their first full season with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm.

Liverpool

It’s crazy to think there could be any kind of discontent within the ranks of the Reds at this early stage of proceedings, but the fact of the matter is that they simply haven’t been at the races ever since the restart. They’ve had a few bright moments but for the most part they’ve just been going through the motions, and while that did bring them the Premier League title, some are questioning what their motivation will be now that they’ve got the monkey off their back.

Trying to bite back at Manchester United’s English league title record is a pretty good place to start, and Jurgen Klopp will be well aware of the history that comes alongside that. Still, they haven’t been all too active in the summer transfer window, and if they can’t bring Thiago Alcantara over to Anfield then we’re bound to see a few eyebrows start to raise – and understandably so.

Everton

Allan, James Rodriguez, Abdoulaye Doucouré.

Those three signings immediately give fans an idea of what we can expect from the Toffees this season. Ancelotti has the kind of star power that is always going to be beneficial for a club, especially a club like Everton who are in desperate need of a reshuffle. Of course, making a few nice signings isn’t going to paper over the cracks for long if they can’t put together some great showings on the pitch, but this is the first step that they so sorely needed to take.

A few decades back the two biggest clubs in the English game were Liverpool and Everton, which is crazy, considering you can throw a stone from one of the two grounds and hit the other. Everton fans have been dying to knock their rivals off of their pedestal for a long time now and while they have come close at points over the years, they haven’t come close enough to warrant any sustained confidence.

You can’t really understand or grasp the love that this city has for football unless you’ve experienced it for yourself, and because of that love, we’re confident in saying that this is going to be one of the most interesting seasons both clubs have experienced in quite a long time.