Arne Slot and Liverpool handed early Premier League title boost amid Arsenal and Man City battle

Liverpool defender Joe Gomez has returned to training in what is a huge boost to Arne Slot's side.

The Reds face Bournemouth at Anfield on Friday evening with Slot intent on retaining the Premier League title. Gomez, the club’s longest-serving current player, returned home from the tour of the Far East early with an Achilles injury and was subsequently sidelined for three weeks.

But the 28-year-old was pictured with the rest of his team-mates on Wednesday as preparations ramp up for the defending champions’ season opener at Anfield.

His absence had left Slot with just two senior centre-backs in Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate and questions had been asked as to whether the Reds boss had left himself light in that area after allowing Jarell Quansah to join Bayer Leverkusen.

However, moves are progressing for Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Parma’s 18-year-old Giovanni Leoni, which would bring better balance to the squad.

Liverpool will be battling the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City for the Premier League title this season. All three teams have strengthened in the transfer market and Slot has already revealed what must happen for the Reds to be successful.

“We have a lot to compete for next season again but what I don’t know yet – and that’s going to be the interesting one – is if we have this elite mentality, this serial winner mentality, of showing up season after season after season,” he said in May, as per The Independent.

“Many teams have won the Premier League once but not many have won multiple seasons in a row – and that’s for a reason. First of all, because it’s so difficult. Second of all, that not every player has this elite mentality.

“When I talk about Mo (Salah), it’s not a coincidence that he’s for seven years already on a certain level and he was the one that was the most fittest when we arrived back after the (summer) break. That is a mentality you need to have to have a chance of becoming a serial winner.

“This is something we have to prove and the players have to prove – and me as well – during the off-season. The first day for me to judge if we have a chance to become serial winners is July 8 when I see them back (for pre-season)."