Liverpool FC v Sunderland preview: Christmas Day comes for Kenny Dalglish and his LFC players

FOR Kenny Dalglish, the start of the season is akin to Christmas Day. But only this afternoon will the Liverpool manager start discovering whether his presents have been worth the expense.

After all the speculation, rumour, conjecture and shadow-boxing, the phoney war of pre-season ends as the new-look Anfield outfit begin the Premier League campaign by welcoming Sunderland.

It’s conceivable more than half of the starting XI that pull on the red jersey will not have been at the club at the turn of the year.

That Roy Hodgson was still manager at that point – albeit for only another few days – underlines the drastic rate of change at Liverpool during the last nine months.

The transformation accelerated in the close season with Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing, Alexander Doni and now Jose Enrique buying into Anfield’s rediscovered ambition.

But while delighted with his summer recruitment, Dalglish admits it can only start being vindicated once Liverpool cross the white line at 3pm.

"We are all excited," says the Liverpool manager. "It’s a wee bit like Christmas Day for the kids. The players have all trained for five weeks to get to this point.

"At the start of a season expectations at every football club are high. As a manager I know we are under scrutiny because of the players we’ve brought in and how we have strengthened our squad but the desire to be successful hasn’t changed. It is an exciting time for us.

"We are pleased with the business we’ve done this summer. Of course we will be judged by what happens on the pitch rather than off it but at the moment it’s positive.

"Saturday is when we have to enhance that positivity and take it forward but every football club is like that before the start of a new season."

The spotlight will inevitably fall on the likes of Downing, Adam and Henderson this afternoon, but Dalglish is intent on deflecting scrutiny away from the new boys.

"The new signings are under no more pressure than the people who were already here," he says. "Playing here, it doesn’t matter how you got here through the Academy or someone purchased you. The pressure is the same. You are expected to get results.

"I am not trying to undermine the players that were here last year. They were hungry and determined to get results and they turned it round for us towards the end of the season.

"But everyone needs to strengthen their squad and hopefully we have done that."

The plethora of options now available, along with the lack of European football, suggests Dalglish faces a juggling act ensuring sidelined players do not become overly disgruntled.