Liverpool fixtures 2024/25 Premier League: Strong chance for Slot to outdo Klopp in first six games | OneFootball

The Arne Slot era at Liverpool is about to begin and he certainly has a tough act to follow.

Slot takes over from Jurgen Klopp, who ends his nine-year stay at Anfield with Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup (x2) titles in the bag among a host of other trophies. The German brought levels of success to the red half of Merseyside the likes of which we haven’t seen since the 1980s.

But Slot is no rookie. The Dutchman rocks up to L4 with an impressive CV of his own, lifting the 2022/23 Eredivisie title and 2023/24 KNVB Cup with Feyenoord, alongside reaching the 2021/22 Europa Conference League final — the Rotterdam giants’ first major European final since winning the 2002 Uefa Cup.

But can he translate success in the Netherlands to the pressure cooker of English football? The way he handles his opening Premier League fixtures and clashes with Liverpool’s nearest rivals will go a long way in dictating that, so let’s have a look at how the calendar stacks up for the Reds.

When do Liverpool first play Manchester United and Everton?

There’s no fixture in England quite like Liverpool vs Manchester United. While one has usually enjoyed success as the other is in a slump, they remain comfortably the two most successful clubs in England and to say the rivalry runs deep among supporters would be understating it. It’s the closest thing to El Clasico we have in this country. And we don’t have to wait long to see Slot take his first stab at this fixture of fixtures, with Liverpool travelling to Old Trafford on August 31st in just their third game of the season.

It’s a match that will pit Slot against his fellow Dutchman Erik ten Hag, with this the fifth all-time meeting between the two as managers. It’s 2-2 in the head-to-head stakes, but Ten Hag has come out on top on the last two occasions.

And then, of course, there’s the Merseyside derby. You have to go back to the 1980s for the last time this was a fixture that decided a title race, with Liverpool (5) and Everton (2) sharing seven straight titles between 1982 and 1988. Apart from the odd flurry among the European places for Everton, this has been more about Liverpool’s ambitions at the top and how the Toffees can stop their close neighbours.

The first Merseyside derby of the season comes on December 7th and it’s a huge one, with this the final time the two will lock horns at Goodison Park ahead of Everton’s move to their new stadium — unless, of course, they’re drawn together in the cups. The Toffees served a knockout blow to Liverpool’s title hopes in the last Goodison derby, with goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin delivering a 2-0 win. Slot will be keen to avoid a repeat of that in his first and potentially only trip ‘across the park’.

When do Liverpool face their big-six rivals?

With the emergence of Newcastle and Aston Villa, coupled with inconsistency from the likes of Chelsea, Man Utd and Tottenham, the term ‘big-six’ is getting harder to justify. Nevertheless, these remain the most highly-anticipated fixtures of any Premier League season.

As mentioned, Slot doesn’t have to wait long for his first taste of one as he travels to Old Trafford on week three, but it’s not until October that they face another of the so-called ‘elite’, with Liverpool at home to Chelsea and away at Arsenal back-to-back in October.

The first meeting with Manchester City comes at the end of November at Anfield, with Liverpool fans hoping that’ll be an early six-pointer in another title push. Finally, the first meeting with Spurs is away on December 21st.

Liverpool’s full 2024/25 Premier League fixture list:

Fixture dates and times are subject to change.

Can Slot outdo Klopp in first five games?

According to Opta’s modelling which ranks fixture difficultly, Liverpool have the easiest opening six games in the Premier League for 2024/25. The Reds face opponents with an average difficulty ranking of 83.7, compared to 89.6 for Brentford, who have the toughest opening.

Opta’s first six fixtures difficulty ranking for big-six teams:

This offers Slot a unique opportunity to make a strong start to life at Anfield. But can he outdo Klopp, who made his presence immediately felt upon arriving from Borussia Dortmund in October 2015?

The German lost just one of his first six matches in charge of the Reds, with standout results like a 4-1 win away at Manchester City, 3-1 at Chelsea, and 0-0 at Tottenham. Klopp took 11 points during this run compared to six points in the final six games of the Brendan Rodgers era.

And in Klopp’s first full season, he got Liverpool off to a brilliant start, with the Reds once again losing just one of their first six, but upping their points return to 13 — seven of which came against Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, while they beat defending champions Leicester City 4-1 at Anfield.

It’s hard to quantify success in the Eredivisie to the Premier League, but Slot took 15 points from his first six league matches in charge of Feyenoord, with a 3-1 loss away at Utrecht the only mark in a run that included a resounding 4-0 win away at rivals PSV.