On Saturday the world caught a first glimpse of how the rivalry between Manchester City and Liverpool will look this season, with the latter triumphing 3-1 in the Community Shield.
City and Liverpool were head and shoulders above the rest in the Premier League last term, finishing on 93 and 92 points respectively while third place Chelsea could only muster 74 points. Both look set to lead the charge once again this season, with a summer of change and transfers giving both teams a new look and feel heading into the new campaign.
City have been particularly busy in the transfer market, shipping out Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko and bringing in Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez and Kalvin Phillips.
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Jurgen Klopp's side have lost a key player in Sadio Mane, but if his goal-scoring cameo against City last weekend was anything to go by, then £85m striker Darwin Nunez will prove a good replacement.
However, in the eyes of former City defender and BT Sport pundit Joleon Lescott, Pep Guardiola's side are the favourites to clinch the title despite the departures of some key players.
"I think the top two teams are going to be City and Liverpool and I think City are the favourites due to them winning last season," Lescott told PA Media.
"I think you should be favourites if you are the reigning champions but also I think they’ve added to the squad with some quality.
"I think it’s going to be slightly more difficult for Liverpool. I know they’ve signed Nunez, but without Mane, they can’t be as strong. The same could be said about City losing Raheem [Sterling], but in regards to Liverpool losing Mane I think that’s a huge loss."
Mane will certainly take some replacing - the Senegalese forward scored 16 Premier League goals last season, making him the fifth highest scorer in the division.
In terms of head-to-head meetings with the Blues, Liverpool may also feel Mane's absence. Over 19 matches against City (for both Southampton and Liverpool) Mane scored 10 goals - the only side he has scored against more is Crystal Palace (13).
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