Arsenal, City, Madrid top three: Ranking difficulty of opponents in ...
Liverpool have an extremely testing run of games before the chaos of the Christmas period, starting with Chelsea at home on Sunday.
Including eight Premier League, three Champions League and one Carabao Cup match, we have ranked all of the Reds’ fixtures until Everton away on December 7 by how difficult they are, starting with the easiest – which is the only easy one of the 12.
12) Southampton (a) – Premier League
Liverpool should be brushing Southampton aside but a lot can change between now and this fixture, which is their first after the November international break.
Southampton might do something like win a Premier League match by then. Or they might have a new manager. That sort of stuff is hard to predict but the result isn’t. For the only time in this entire piece, we can confidently say anything less than a Liverpool win would be embarrassing for Arne Slot and his players.
11) Brighton (h) – Premier League
This being Liverpool’s second-easiest fixture between now and December 7 tells you everything you need to know. Brighton are tricky, no doubt about that. They have earned a draw away to Arsenal and beat Manchester United at home this season. The latter might not be that difficult these days but it is still a big result for the Seagulls.
10) Brighton (a) – Carabao Cup
Hard one to judge given the unpredictability of both line-ups and how much of a priority the Carabao Cup will be during such a horrible run. This game being at the Amex is why it is higher than the Premier League fixture and the cup aspect has spared us a headache.
9) Everton (a) – Premier League
Liverpool’s recent record at Goodison Park is pretty miserable and Slot’s first Merseyside derby will be the last one in the Premier League at that stadium before Everton move ahead of 2025/26.
The Toffees won Jurgen Klopp’s final derby 2-0 in April and the German only won twice away to the Reds’ arch-rivals, dropping crucial points in the season they finished second with 97 points.
This is no longer about Klopp and this fixture never was. Everton away will always be a rough one for Liverpool. We expect no different on December 7.
8) Aston Villa (h) – Premier League
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa are absolutely flying this season but their record at Anfield is what has them so low here. In fact, their record away to the Big Six is pretty underwhelming, besides the incredible win at Arsenal last season, which cost Emery’s old club the Premier League title.
Liverpool comfortably beat the Villans 3-0 at Anfield last season and the last time this fixture was an away victory came in September 2014 when Gabby Agbonlahor scored the only goal for Paul Lambert’s side.
We are in no way downplaying the threat Villa pose and we would not be surprised whatsoever if they win on November 9. Eighth emphasises how well Liverpool will need to play not to come out of this run black and blue.
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7) RB Leipzig (a) – Champions League
Liverpool’s trip to Germany comes a few days after Sunday’s match against Chelsea and Slot is not happy with the scheduling. “What is very good in Holland is I’m 99.9 per cent sure that teams that play in the Champions League in the upcoming week don’t play on a Sunday,” he said.
Leipzig will be a very difficult Champions League test for Liverpool, who defeated AC Milan in Italy in their first league phase fixture before beating their Serie A rivals Bologna at Anfield. Six points from six is a perfect start and nine from nine would be outstanding given the difficult start the Reds were given.
Leipzig are a very capable side with some excellent players, such as Lois Openda, Xavi Simons, Benjamin Sesko and Slot’s former player at Feyenoord, Lutsharel Geertruida.
They are currently second in the Bundesliga, four points ahead of champions Bayer Leverkusen, who they beat away on matchday two. That was Xabi Alonso’s first domestic defeat since the final day of the 2022/23 season. So, yeah, they are pretty serious opposition.
6) Chelsea (h) – Premier League
In Liverpool’s first fixture after the international break, they welcome an in-form Chelsea side who have a tricky schedule of their own, including a Premier League, Carabao Cup double-header against Newcastle United, just as the Reds do with Brighton.
This is a hard one to predict so we won’t. We are not sure any result will surprise us. It could be Liverpool’s easiest of the lot, yet could be their worst result of the season. That is the beauty of Chelsea Football Club we guess.
5) Newcastle United (a) – Premier League
Newcastle at home would be lowly ranked but a trip to St James’ Park can be chastening for any team – just ask Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal. Saying that, Liverpool have not been stressed by this fixture in recent years. The Magpies’ last win over Liverpool came in December 2015 when future Reds midfielder Gini Wijnaldum added to Martin Skrtel’s own goal.
Eddie Howe’s side battered Liverpool in this fixture last term. Trent Alexander-Arnold probably should have been sent off early doors and Virgil van Dijk was, three minutes after Anthony Gordon’s opener. They didn’t put it to bed and Howe’s decision to bring off Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak for Sean Longstaff, Harvey Barnes and Callum Wilson was a catastrophically bad one.
Two Darwin Nunez goals won Liverpool the game and Howe will have learned from that defeat and will be out for revenge. We fancy them to get some.
4) Bayer Leverkusen (h) – Champions League
The Xabi Alonso derby. The Spaniard returns to Anfield after snubbing the chance to manage them in favour of another year at Leverkusen. He will get a nice reception before an incredible game of football between two attacking teams.
This was the Europa League final we never got and ironically, Leverkusen will wish they did. It was deemed the toughest possible final for both sides when still in the competition. As you know, the Germans were smashed by Ademola Lookman and Atalanta instead, the team that knocked the Reds out.
This fixture will be a huge indicator of the Champions League credentials of both sides and we are very much looking forward to it. It will also set off a wonderful discourse if Alonso gets one over Slot after notably being the preferred candidate to replace Klopp.
3) Manchester City (h) – Premier League
Man City and Liverpool have given us some classics over the years but it is time for Arne Slot v Pep Guardiola. Hopefully there is some bite between them unlike the disgusting Klopp and Pep lovefest.
We have mentioned plenty of head-to-head records and City v Liverpool is pretty significant. The away team rarely leaves with three points and the only time Guardiola has managed it was behind closed doors when the Reds were handing points to every Tom, Dick and Harry.
Bring this one on, we say. There is no bigger indication – in a single fixture – of a title challenger’s credentials than the outcome of their home match against the reigning champions. As things stand, this fixture will happen a week after the long trip to Southampton, with Real Madrid sandwiched in between. More on them soon.
2) Arsenal (a) – Premier League
City are better than Arsenal but a trip to the Emirates is more daunting than hosting the champions. The Gunners were outstanding when they won this fixture 3-1 last season but still needed an Alisson and Virgil van Dijk c*ck-up and another Alisson c*ck-up to win the match.
Arsenal recorded 89 points last season yet look even stronger at the start of 2024/25. They had the best defence in the country and are somehow better in that department. They were savvy from set-pieces before and have more tricks up their sleeves in that respect. We actually have three more reasons why they are better equipped this time around to topple Man City, if you’re interested. That covers why Arsenal are second here and why they won’t finish second in the Premier League…again.
1) Real Madrid (h) – Champions League
Home or away, it doesn’t get tougher than the European champions, does it? This is another match we are really excited to see and is the main reason we have included fixtures taking place after the November international break. Before it would have been a better timescale but we would have been without the Real Madrid, Everton, Newcastle and Man City clashes.
At the time of writing, Liverpool are perfect in the Champions League and Real Madrid have one unconvincing win against Stuttgart and a shock defeat away to Lille. These results mean diddly-squat with both teams expected to bring their A game.
