Arne Slot believes victory in Sunday's Community Shield clash with Crystal Palace could tee Premier League champions Liverpool up for another successful season.

Having captured their 20th top-flight title in Slot's first campaign at the helm, Liverpool face FA Cup victors Palace at Wembley Stadium in English football's traditional curtain-raiser.

And the Reds will do so with a very different squad to that which dethroned Manchester City last season.

Liverpool have brought in Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez in a spending spree that has topped £260m, while they are reportedly eyeing a Premier League record swoop for Alexander Isak.

The Reds have seen Trent Alexander-Arnold leave for Real Madrid on a free transfer, while Darwin Nunez appears likely to follow Luis Diaz, Jarell Quansah and Caoimhin Kelleher through the exit door.

Amid the upheaval, Slot is welcoming the chance to start 2025-26 with Liverpool's 17th Community Shield, which would draw them level with Arsenal for second in the all-time charts (five of Liverpool's titles are shared, compared to one for the Gunners).

Slot said: "It is nice if you can start the season with the chance of winning something. Normally you have to play numerous games before you can win something. 

"If it's the League Cup, FA Cup, let alone the Premier League or Champions League, normally you win something at the end of the season. Now we have a chance to win something in the beginning of the season. 

"Unfortunately, we face a very good Crystal Palace that have been very difficult to win against for us, because we played a 1-1 against them in the last game of the season. 

"They showed in the last final – and even in the semi-final – how difficult it is to win a one-off game against them. 

"I think most of the players that they have are still there, so we even more reason to know what a difficult team it is to play against."

While Slot is wary of the challenge posed by Palace, their boss Oliver Glasner has outlined his frustration at their lack of transfer activity, with Borna Sosa and Walter Benitez – who are both likely to be squad players – their only incomings thus far. 

"We have been quite passive in the transfer window. We have to add a few players to be ready for all the competitions," Glasner said.

"Eddie Nketiah has missed more or less the whole pre-season, and he will be out for around eight weeks. 

"We are short of numbers. If we want to be competitive, we have to add players with good quality."

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

Crystal Palace – Eberechi Eze

Glasner confirmed on Friday that Eze – who is the subject of interest from Arsenal – will play on Sunday, and after netting their winner against City in the FA Cup final, he could have another major impact.

Eze has been involved in 12 goals in his last 13 games for Palace across all competitions, scoring nine and assisting three.

Liverpool – Mohamed Salah

Salah won the Premier League's Golden Boot last term with 29 goals, while he netted 34 times and provided 23 assists in 52 games in all competitions. However, the Egyptian is not a big fan of playing at Wembley.

Since netting against Tottenham Hotspur on his first Wembley appearance in October 2017 (a Premier League game staged before the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was finished), Salah has not registered a single goal involvement in seven matches at the national stadium.

MATCH PREDICTION – LIVERPOOL WIN

Palace have won four of their six matches at the new Wembley when used as a neutral venue, losing the others against Manchester United (2016 FA Cup final) and Chelsea (2022 FA Cup semi-final).

The FA Cup winners have also beaten the Premier League winners in seven of the last nine Community Shields which did not feature a double-winning team from the previous season.

However, last year's Community Shield did see FA Cup holders Manchester United lose on penalties to Manchester City.

Liverpool have only won the Community Shield on one of the last six occasions where they have contested the game as league champions, beating Wimbledon 2-1 in 1988.

But that should change here. Palace have only won one of their last 16 meetings with the Reds in all competitions, triumphing 1-0 at Anfield in the Premier League in April 2024 (three draws, 12 defeats).

Liverpool lost 2-1 to Newcastle United in March's EFL Cup final, and they have never tasted defeat twice at the national stadium in the same calendar year.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Crystal Palace – 22.5%

Liverpool – 54.9%

Draw – 22.7%