Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola has warned that the club faces a difficult run of fixtures after the international break, following a narrow 1-0 win on his first return to former club Bournemouth last Sunday. Speaking to the media, Iraola said: “We have to get ready as the schedule we have now is very difficult. We are playing against the top four teams, and in between the Champions League and Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, every two or three days.”
Nine games in 29 days
At first, it seemed Iraola had made a mistake. While home games against Manchester City and Arsenal are looming, Liverpool do not play either Manchester United or Aston Villa until much later in the year. However, the keen-eyed Iraola was referencing the fact that among the next batch of fixtures until the November international break are clashes against the other two teams who make up the current top four – away at Brentford and at home to Brighton.
That underlined why the group of games between the two autumn international breaks will go a long way to both shaping Liverpool's season and revealing what still needs to be done for Iraola's methods to take hold. When the Reds resume, they start a run of nine games in 29 days with the visit of a revamped Manchester City, the last of their opening six Premier League matches all of which will have been against teams who changed their manager during the summer.
European and domestic tests
Three days later they are in Austria to take on LASK Linz in their first Champions League away fixture of the campaign, before a trek to London to take on fourth-placed Brentford on the Saturday. Then come a run of four games at home in three competitions: Villarreal in the Champions League, a Sunday Premier League visit of Brighton, the Carabao Cup fourth-round tie at home to Chelsea, and the showdown against Arsenal on Sunday, November 1.
The hectic spell concludes with two tough away trips, first at Fenerbahce in the Champions League followed by a Sunday afternoon clash at Crystal Palace. In the five respective Premier League games last season, Liverpool took just six points with defeats against City, Brentford and Palace.
Home form under scrutiny
The dire goalless draw at home to Fulham – which came after the Champions League comeback win against Atletico Madrid – was the first real evidence of how Iraola will have to manage squad rotation as he discovers which players are best suited to successive appearances. That result also underlined why Liverpool are going to have to make more of home advantage over the coming period, having won just four of their last 12 Premier League games at Anfield, taking just 19 points in the process.
True, the cup record at home during the same period is more impressive, with the only failure to win in seven games being the 2-0 reverse to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in April. Fortress Anfield, though, needs hastily rebuilding in the Premier League if Liverpool are to keep touch with the pacesetters during the next batch of games. And in general, Iraola will soon learn much more about what he is working with and what can realistically be achieved this season.
