No player has scored more goals on the first matchday of a Premier League season than Mohamed Salah for Liverpool. But when the Reds begin their 2026-27 campaign under Andoni Iraola at Anfield on Sunday, Salah will be playing for Trabzonspor against Istanbul Basaksehir in the Turkish Super Lig, some 2,100 miles away. It will be the first time since 2015 that Liverpool will start a season without any of Salah, Sadio Mane or Roberto Firmino in their squad.

Between 2015 and 2026, that trio scored a combined 488 goals (Salah 257, Mane 120, Firmino 111) for the Reds. Salah netted 10 of those goals on the opening matchday - a Premier League record. With the superstar out of the picture, the top scorer in Liverpool's current squad is Darwin Nunez with just 50 Reds goals.

When Liverpool signed Alexander Isak, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo for a combined £320m last summer, the future was very much in mind. It is impossible for one player to replicate Salah's achievements, with his goalscoring and creative burden needing to be shared. Ekitike, 24, had an impressive start to life at Anfield before rupturing his hamstring tendon in April, and the hope is he will be fit for the second half of this season.

And both Jota, 26, and Gakpo, 23, will be expected to lead the way in this new Anfield era after disappointing debut campaigns. The spotlight will also fall on Harvey Elliott, who scored 62 goals in 109 games for Liverpool but only netted four times last season.