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Liverpool's draw card for the Champions League draw(Image: Valerio Pennicino - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

Liverpool could face a repeat of the mammoth week that saw them face Real Madrid and Man City in back-to-back matches last season.

The Premier League fixtures were confirmed on Wednesday, as the Reds’ schedule for the upcoming campaign was revealed.

And with the dates for Champions League and domestic cup action already confirmed, Liverpool now know how such fixtures will fit into their schedule - even if they will have to wait to find out the identity of their opponents.

The Reds will learn which eight sides they will face in the Champions League league phase on Thursday 28 August, before it gets underway on Tuesday 16 September.

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The league phase matchdays in full are as follows:

GW 1: September 16-18

GW2: September 30 - October 1

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GW 3: October 21-22

GW 4: November 4-5

GW 5: November 25-26

?GW 6: December 9-10

GW 7: January 20-21

GW 8: January 28

So, with the Premier League fixtures being released on Wednesday morning, Liverpool now know which games their European exploits will be sandwiched in between.

And it is not ideal, with the Reds facing five away clashes and an Anfield Merseyside derby after their Champions League league matches.

Liverpool have been granted a kinder warm-up to their opening Champions League fixture as they travel to newly-promoted Burnley (September 13), but that is followed by the first Merseyside derby of the season against Everton at Anfield (September 20).

They will travel to Crystal Palace on September 27 prior to matchday two, with another tricky away trip to Chelsea then awaiting on October 4.

Following the October international break, the Reds will host Manchester United (October 18) ahead of matchday three, with a trip to Brentford then following (October 25).

Meanwhile, a home clash with Aston Villa (November 1) precedes matchday four, with Liverpool then facing a potential top of the table clash with Man City at the Etihad (November 8).

Hosting Nottingham Forest on November 22, the Reds are then in continental action on matchday five ahead of a trip to West Ham United on November 29.

Matchday six is then sandwiched between an away trip to Leeds United (December 6) and home meeting with Brighton & Hove Albion (December 13).

Fast forward to 2026 and Liverpool could be without Mohamed Salah when they host Burnley on January 17 ahead of matchday seven.

With the forward away on international duty, he would likely miss both matches if Egypt were to reach the Africa Cup of Nations final.

The Reds then travel to AFC Bournemouth on January 24 ahead of their final Champions League league phase matchday, with Newcastle United then visiting Anfield on January 31.

Liverpool are one of 29 sides who are already assured of their place in this season’s Champions League league phase, with all nine of the top seeds already confirmed.

The Reds are one of the nine pot one seeds, along with European champions Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona.

As was the case last season, Liverpool will face two of their fellow pot one sides, so it is possible for them to face an away trip to Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain between such fixtures in what would be a nightmare scenario.

Slot would ideally prefer the Reds to avoid facing a pot one side in Champions League gameweeks one, two, three, four or eight.

That is because such games would see Liverpool face their toughest European opponents in back-to-back games with either their fiercest rivals (Everton, post-gameweek one and Manchester United, pre-gameweek three) or three of their fellow English entries in the Champions League (Chelsea, post-gameweek two, Man City, post-gameweek four, Newcastle United, post-gameweek eight).

The Reds found themselves in a similar situation last season, when they were given a tough run of fixtures in October as they hosted Chelsea before away games at RB Leipzig and Arsenal in the space of a week.

Meanwhile, they also faced Real Madrid and Man City in back to back matches at the end of November and start of December.

Liverpool admittedly won four of the aforementioned matches, with a 2-2 draw away at Arsenal the only one where they failed to clinch all three points.

But they would still favour a kinder schedule where possible where the finest of margins can be decisive against the toughest of opponents.

Having suffered a premature Champions League exit at the hands of eventual European champions PSG last season, losing on penalties in the round-of-16, the Reds will be desperate to last longer in this year’s competition.

Topping last season's inaugural league phase after winning their first seven matches, it was a tough lesson for Slot's men to then fall at the next hurdle.

But that in turn could result in a nightmare run of fixtures in the knockout stages.

For example, a home meeting with Tottenham Hotspur (March 14) is sandwiched in between the Champions League round of 16 ties, while a Merseyside derby at Goodison Park (April 18) is due to follow the Champions League quarter-final second legs.

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But the toughest would follow at the end of the season if Liverpool were to reach the Champions League semi-finals, where an away trip to Manchester United (May 2) is sandwiched between both legs before the Reds host Chelsea at Anfield (May 9).

Admittedly, such games are a long, long way off, but with Liverpool looking to challenge for multiple honours as they build on last season’s Premier League glory, the tough task at hand just became that little bit clearer.


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