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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

The hunter is becoming the hunted.

Now, having claimed a second Premier League title in five years to regain a place on their perch with 20 championships, Liverpool are once again the team to beat in the top flight.

Arne Slot's side will discover the route for the defence of their crown on Wednesday morning when the fixtures for the new league season are released.

Not since winning a third successive championship way back in 1984 have Liverpool successfully retained silverware of any kind, having come closest in March when they were beaten by Newcastle United in the League Cup final after winning the trophy in dramatic circumstances the year before.

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Indeed, only five times previously have the Reds won consecutive championships, compared to seven for Manchester United and four for Manchester City, the latter of which have all come under Pep Guardiola.

Of the 28 times - out of 126 - the championship has been successfully defended, 11 have come since the Premier League was formed in 1992.

The odds, then, don't appear to favour Liverpool.

But with Jeremie Frimpong on board, Florian Wirtz on his way, a deal for Milos Kerkez imminent and potentially more new arrivals to follow, it'll be a new-look Reds that takes to the field when the season starts on the weekend of Saturday, August 16.

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Recent trends suggest that will be against one of Burnley, Leeds United and Sunderland, given Liverpool have opened against a promoted team in five of the last six seasons.

The game is likely to be at Anfield for the first time since they last began a season as champions in 2020 given Everton are still tweaking preparations for the move into their new Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The Blues' final test event - and the first at full capacity - takes place on August 9 with a friendly against Roma.

The Reds have lost only four times on the opening day since 1981, the most recent being the 3-0 thumping at West Bromwich Albion in the first Premier League game under Brendan Rodgers in 2012.

Slot avoided the same fate by guiding Liverpool to a 2-0 win at Ipswich Town last August, and a fixture list that saw the Reds largely avoid their main rivals during the opening few months gave them decent conditions to adapt quickly under the Dutchman.

A similar schedule would be welcomed.

When the fixtures are released, all eyes will inevitably seek out the dates for the clashes against expected title rivals Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea, along with the battles with neighbours Everton and bitter North West rivals Manchester United.

There will, though, also be keen interest in the period covering Christmas and the New Year given Liverpool will be without Mohamed Salah due to Africa Cup of Nations duty with Egypt.

The tournament, which takes place in Morocco, spans from December 21 to January 18 which, allowing for Salah's expected early release, means he could miss up to six Premier League matches.

While there will inevitably be those who shrug their shoulders at the fixture list - after all, ultimately each team has to play each other once both home and away - the order of the games is important.

For example, Liverpool's last four matches of the recent season - away at Chelsea and Brighton and home to Arsenal and FA Cup winners Crystal Palace - would have been more testing had they been played earlier in the season rather than with the title having already been secured.

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Momentum, as the Reds demonstrated during the early months under Slot, is important.

And there will be almost as much interest in the schedule of Liverpool's near rivals as that of the Premier League champions.

Slot's side, though, know the task in hand.
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