Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has said it will be harder than ever before to win the Premier League this season but feels his team are "definitely ready" to begin their title defence.
Slot's side won the league by a 10-point margin last season, sealing the title with four games to spare.
However, despite a busy summer transfer window at Anfield -- that has seen Trent Alexander-Arnold, Darwin Núñez, Luis Díaz and Caoimhín Kelleher among the names to depart with Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Florian Wirtz, Giorgi Mamardashvili and Hugo Ekitike arriving -- the Liverpool boss has said he expects his team to face stern competition as they bid to retain their crown.
"In preseason it's normal there is some room for improvement," Slot said.
"We've not only lost three or four starters, we've lost five or six players that played a lot of minutes for us last season and then we brought in new players so it's normal there's a little bit of adaptation. We are definitely ready for the league to start.
"There are so many competitors who can win the league over here. To win it once is already very special, let alone if you can win twice in five years like us or like Manchester City, who did even better.
"That's unbelievable if you're able to do this in this league. Probably this year it is going to be harder than every year before because every team brings in new players but our main competitors definitely did as well."
There are likely to be more incomings at Anfield before the transfer window closes, with Liverpool having agreed a deal to sign Parma centre-back Giovanni Leoni for £26 million ($35m) plus add-ons.
Sources also told ESPN the club opened talks with Crystal Palace to sign captain Marc Guéhi earlier this week, though Slot refused to be drawn on reports linking Liverpool with the player.
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On Leoni, Slot said: "The clubs have agreed a deal but he hasn't signed for us yet so the moment when he signs for us I can go into more detail. The other one [Guéhi] is the answer you always get from me. He's not our player and unfortunately he was the captain of the team we lost against last Sunday.
"If you want to have any talks about him, you should go to Palace."
Liverpool begin their title defence at home to Bournemouth on Friday night and Slot is anticipating a challenging encounter with Andoni Iraola's side.
"We're starting with Bournemouth which was last season probably the most intense team in the league...they also brought in some good new players, as they have shown they can do in the last few years," Slot added.
"A very good team with a very good manager and a challenge for us on Friday. We're looking forward to it because playing an evening game at Anfield is something everyone is looking forward to."