January-May
January
January will see the Reds face three Premier League games with the Cups slowly moving towards the tougher rounds of play too. The New Year starts off with Jurgen Klopp taking his side to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland. This will be followed by a trip to Old Trafford where Jose Mourinho’s side will look to give Jurgen Klopp’s side a really special welcome.
The month ends with a game at Anfield against Swansea City to sum up a reasonable set of Premier League fixtures.
February:
This could turn out to be a really crucial month for Liverpool as they face off with Antonio Conte’s Chelsea at Anfield followed by an away game against Hull City. The Reds will then welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Anfield followed by a trip to the King Power Stadium to face Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City.
This bunch of games comes at a crucial time for the Reds, as they will look to build momentum during this time for a strong end of season finish. The Liverpool side could find themselves derailed should they end up with not so favourable results from this set of games.
March:
Arsenal come calling at Anfield in March with Burnley scheduled to be an away game. Should Liverpool’s request of switching venues for the two fixtures in the list against Burnley, the game this month could take place at Anfield rather than Turf Moor.
The month ends with a mouth-watering clash against Manchester City who are expected to come to grips with Pep Guardiola’s methods by this time. With rivalries on song and philosophies of football clashing, this could again potentially be the game of the season for the Reds.
April:
The Reds find themselves in all sorts of trouble in terms of fixture congestion during this time. They already play six times in the Premier League in this month. That is of course, without any of the possible cup fixtures should they progress in either or both cups.
In this month, they play thrice away and thrice at home. The first day of the month sees the Merseyside Derby against Everton at Anfield followed by a visit from Bournemouth who will grace Anfield in four days from the Merseyside derby. Liverpool will visit Stoke City a few days after their game against Bournemouth followed by another away game this time against West Bromwich Albion.
A home game against Crystal Palace and away game against Watford round up the month which could see a number of sides slip up in the table.
May:
The Premier League ends for Liverpool with three games against Southampton, West Ham and Middlesbrough in that order. The game against Middlesbrough will be at Anfield meaning the Reds end the season with a home game.
The only away fixture for the month will be against West Ham United. This will also be the trickiest of the fixtures for the Reds in May and considering what they should be playing for, this fixture could hold great meaning at the upper end of the table should everything go according to plan for Liverpool this season.
Verdict
The Reds begin terribly strained but seem to have managed a reasonable set of fixtures after that with only the festive period and the month of April offering any form of congestion with regards to the Premier League alone.
The Reds will face their toughest run of games in the very beginning and across February through to March where they face Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Arsenal and Manchester City almost back to back with Away games against Hull and Burnley sandwiched in between.
The overall schedule doesn’t seem too bad but it is by no means an easy fixture list to navigate. Even without European duty to tend to, the fixtures will be tough in its own little way for the Reds. It will be interesting to see how Jurgen Klopp deals with it this time.
