Liverpool fixtures: Next six matches after Tottenham defeat
When Jurgen Klopp was at Borussia Dortmund, he pictured English football as „rainy day, heavy pitch, everybody dirty in the face and you go home feeling like you can’t play football for the next four weeks“.
As the autumnal grip of October takes hold, Klopp is inching once again towards his ideal of the British game.
Liverpool will battle on three fronts across the coming weeks as they continue the Europa League group stage and march forward in the Carabao Cup alongside their Premier League mandate.
After Saturday’s last-gasp defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, here are the fixtures that lie ahead for Klopp’s side. The weather, as ever, is a little more unpredictable.
Kevin Mac Allister, brother to Liverpool’s Argentine midfielder Alexis, got out of his plane seat to celebrate the Europa League draw that will take his Union Saint-Gilloise side to Anfield next week.
The former Argentinos Juniors defender, who was purposefully named after Macaulay Culkin’s character in Home Alone by his mother, has started every game for the side he joined in the summer and could well spark a family reunion on the pitch this Thursday.
Brighton may still be licking their wounds from a 6-1 thrashing dished out by Aston Villa but the Seagulls can take solace from an impressive recent record against Liverpool.
Liverpool have won just one of their last seven matches against Brighton and were soundly beaten on both trips to the Amex Stadium last season. Klopp may have got some pointers from the clinic Villa put on but Brighton are not the sort of club to fall for the same mistake twice.
There were no fans in attendance for Liverpool’s solitary derby defeat to Everton at Anfield in the 21st century as Carlo Ancelotti masterminded a rare victory for the Toffees in February 2021.
That famous reverse was the fourth in a historic sequence of six consecutive home defeats for Liverpool. Current Everton boss Sean Dyche was the manager of the Burnley side that kick-started this unprecedented losing run.
„You know we come to these places and we are allowed to actually fight,“ Dyche said after a physical altercation of his own with Klopp. „We are allowed to actually try and win.“ That will be the message for the Toffees.
Toulouse are the only Europa League group-stage opponents that Liverpool have faced prior to this season. Rafa Benitez oversaw a comfortable 5-0 aggregate victory across two legs of Champions League qualifying in the late summer of 2007.
A decade and a half later, Toulouse secured a spot in Europe’s secondary cup competition by winning the 2023 Coupe de France, the club’s first-ever piece of major silverware.
As Liverpool’s academy manager, Steve Cooper notably oversaw the startling development of a certain Trent Alexander-Arnold. Nottingham Forest’s manager may end up cursing quite how impressive the full-back is when he takes his side to Anfield at the end of October.
Incredibly, Liverpool have not lost at home to Forest in any competition since 1969, while Bill Shankly was the imperious manager on Merseyside and even before Brian Clough had taken the job in Nottingham.
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola insisted his side will give Liverpool a „tough match“ in the Carabao Cup fourth round but the Reds have already bested the Cherries this season.
Antoine Semenyo gave Bournemouth an early lead in the league meeting last August but goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah had Liverpool ahead before the break. Even though Mac Allister was harshly sent off, Diogo Jota sealed all three points in the 62nd minute.
|
Date / Kick-off Time (UK) |
Fixture |
|---|---|
|
05/10/23 – 20:00 |
Liverpool vs Union Saint-Gilloise – Europa League |
|
08/10/23 – 14:00 |
Brighton vs Liverpool – Premier League |
|
21/10/23 – 12:30 |
Liverpool vs Everton – Premier League |
|
26/10/23 – 20:00 |
Liverpool vs Toulouse – Europa League |
|
29/10/23 – 14:00 |
Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest – Premier League |
|
01/11/23 – 19:45 |
Bournemouth vs Liverpool – Carabao Cup |