Liverpool fullback Glen Johnson is confident they'll handle the extra workload of a Champions League campaign this season.
Liverpool fell agonisingly short in the title race, losing out to Manchester City on the last day of the season. The demands of Champions League football will make it even harder this time, and they also face City, Tottenham and Everton in the opening six games. But Johnson has seen enough on the club's pre-season tour of the United States to be believe they will be challengers again.
He said: "I think as long as we play the way we did and fight the way we did last season then I'm sure we'll be happy, but it's a results game and we want to fight for the title as much as the fans want us to be.
"We were definitely fresher for not playing Europe last season. And the size of the squad we had last season we probably could not have coped with all the extra games. It was probably an advantage last year. We're going to have a lot more games this season but hopefully we can keep everyone fit and keep fighting.
"If you want to win the League, the start of every season is important whoever you play. At the end of the day, whoever you play you are fighting for three points. But we've got some big teams early on. Sometimes that can be a good thing, sometimes a bad thing.
"We've been preparing regardless of who we are playing at the start of the season. Hopefully we will win those games, give us a good start and damage our rivals."
