Liverpool’s chances of having a successful new season could be derailed by fixture pile-ups during both the start of the campaign and the busy Christmas schedule after the Club World Cup fixtures were announced.
Jurgen Klopp has previously voiced his frustration that the Club World Cup fixtures had not been announced earlier, and now the Reds know they’ll play two games in Qatar in December.
The European champions will spend a week in the Middle East at the FIFA competition, playing a semi-final on December 17/18 before taking part in either the final or third/fourth play-off on December 21.
It means their Premier League game with West Ham must be re-arranged, as will a Carabao Cup quarter-final tie if Klopp’s men make it to that stage of the competition.
An extra two games, plus travel time to the Middle East, will put more pressure on Klopp’s side, while having two games postponed to be crammed in at a later date will also not be ideal.
Liverpool's December fixtures
- Dec 4 - Everton (H)
- Dec 7 - Bournemouth (A)
- Dec 14 - Watford (H)
- Dec 18 - CWC Semi-Final (A)
- Dec 21 - CWC Final/3rd (A)
- Dec 26 - Leicester City (A)
- Dec 28 - Wolves (H)
It’s already set to be a busy start to the new season for Liverpool, who are paying the price of success in the form of having a couple of high-profile games crammed in to the start of the campaign.
The Reds kick-off the new season at Wembley in the Community Shield against Manchester City, just five days before they also open the Premier League season with a Friday night fixture against Norwich at Anfield.
Liverpool then play Europa League winners Chelsea in the Super Cup, but need to fly out to Istanbul for the game against their fellow Premier League side.
It’s a gap of just three days following the trip to Turkey that Liverpool then go to the south cost to play Southampton at St Mary’s.
It all adds up to a packed schedule for Liverpool, and not an ideal start for a team who have had their crucial front three players, Sadio mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, all involved in international tournaments this summer.
Liverpool's opening fixtures
- Aug 4 - Man City (n) - Community Shield
- Aug 9 - Norwich (h) - Premier League
- Aug 14 - Chelsea (n) - UEFA Super Cup
- Aug 17 - Southampton (a) - Premier League
- Aug 24 - Arsenal (h) - Premier League
- Aug 31 - Burnley (a) - Premier League