Fixture Congestion – Liverpool’s October Schedule
The international break is finally over. League football is back, at both domestic and continental levels. Liverpool players have had a long break of almost three weeks given the rescheduled fixtures because of the death of the Queen, followed by the international break.
That being said, here is a look at Liverpool’s October schedule. Liverpool will play a total of nine games in an action-packed October. Six Premier League games and three Champions League fixtures. This seems to be a pivotal month where Liverpool has the chance to bring their on-again and off-again start to the season back on track.
- 1st October – Brighton Hove Albion at home, Anfield in the Premier League
- 4th October – Rangers at home, Anfield in the UEFA Champions League
- 9th October – Arsenal away at the Emirates in the Premier League
- 12th October – Rangers at the Ibrox Stadium in the UEFA Champions League
- 16th October – Manchester City at home, Anfield in the Premier League
- 19th October – West Ham at home, Anfield in the Premier League
- 22nd October – Nottingham Forest at The Nottingham Forest Football Stadium in the Premier League
- 26th October – Ajax at the Johan Cruijff Arena in the UEFA Champions League
- 29th October – Leeds at home, Anfield in the Premier League
Nine high-intensity games in a month are quite unprecedented. Given the five substitute rules, player fitness and strategic rotations will be very important. Liverpool has a handful of players returning from injury while a few got a much-needed rest, so they look to be in a good position to take on this kind of heavy fixture schedule.
We can certainly expect Jurgen Klopp to be questioned during the pre and post-match conferences regarding his take on the fixture schedule, and we are sure to get a feisty answer from him. He has previously not held back when asked about such a tough fixture list as games come thick and fast at four-day intervals.