After coming within touching distance of lifting the Premier League in the 2013-14 season with Suarez in the ranks, Liverpool failed miserably to replace the striker. With the injuries to Sturridge, the last season saw Brendan Rodgers team slip to the 6th position and lose their spot in the Champions League. They have however strengthened their squad and will want to prove that they still belong to the Europe’s Elite with an impressive next season.
The fixture list tells half the story as fans will have already marked the dates of important matches. In this article, we will analyze the list of fixtures and try to understand the road that Liverpool has in the 2015-16 Premier League season.
August: 8th Stoke City (A) ; 15th Bournemouth (H) ; 22nd Arsenal (A) ; 29th West Ham United (H)
September: 12th Manchester United (A) ; 19th Norwich (H) ; 26th Aston Villa (H)
October: 3rd Everton (A) ; 17th Tottenham (A) ; 24th Southampton (H) ; 31st Chelsea (A)
Liverpool will start their campaign at the scene of the 6-1 drubbing they got at the end of last season. They travel to Stoke for the first game of the season. On the 22nd of August, they will travel to the Emirates, the first high profile fixture for the club. The start of September wills see them face their arch rivals Manchester United on the 12th. Fans will be waiting for this game very badly. The month of October does not seem helpful as they will travel to Goodison park for the Merseyside derby and then to White Hart Lane. They welcome Southampton to Anfield but will again go to the Stamford Bridge to face off against the Champions. If the club can get through this period, they will be delighted as this is the trickiest part of the campaign.
November: 7th Crystal Palace (H) ; 21st Manchester City (A) ; 28th Swansea City (H)
December: 5th Newcastle United (A) ; 12th West Brom (H) ; 19th Watford (A) ; 26th Leicester (H) ; 28th Sunderland (A)
January: 2nd West Ham (A) ; 12th Arsenal (H) ; 16th Manchester United (H) ; 23rd Norwich (A)
November will see them travel to the Etihad and after this fixture, the month of December and the festive season are very exciting for the club. No high profile fixture will be played throughout December and this can be a time for the club to cash in on some points and to catch any team that may have run away in teh starting of the season. Come New Year, Anfield will see both Arsenal and Manchester United back to back in what will be a crunch period for Brendan Rodgers.
February: 2nd Leicester (A) ; 6th Sunderland (H) ; 13th Aston Villa (A) ; 27th Everton (H)
March: 1st Manchester City (H) ; 5th Crystal Palace (A) ; 12th Chelsea (H) ; 19th Southampton (A)
April: 2nd Tottenham (H) ; 9th Stoke City (H) ; 16th Bournemouth (A) ; 23rd Newcastle United (H) ; 30th Swansea City (A)
May: 7th Watford (H) ; 15th West Brom (A)
The end of February will see the second leg of the Merseyside derby. Liverpool run into a glut of tough fixtures in March. They will play Manchester City and Chelsea at Anfield within two weeks. they end March with a trip to the St. Mary’s. The last of the tough fixtures for Liverpool will be a home game against the Spurs in the start of April. The last 6 games for Liverpool will give them plenty of hope to recover lost ground at the beginning.
The club’s first 7 away games will see them play 6 of the top teams and if they are able to negotiate it without much damage, Liverpool may just surprise everyone and have a succesful season under a manager who has no other choice.