Liverpool 2017/18 Premier League Fixture List Released

Ah, it’s the most beautiful time of year. When Liverpool are undefeated and we can dream of adding a sixth European Cup to our cabinet (which will look great next to the 2017/18 Premier League trophy). But before all of that, the FA’s computers, which may or may not be Skynet, must first do their worst to Liverpool in an attempt to rob us of our Fowler-given glory.

All joking aside, the art of scheduling 96 teams across the top 4 flights of English football is an impressive task. In accounting for all 2,036 matches, it must avoid giving any one team more than 3 home or away matches in any 5-game set, and no team should play more than 2 matches home or away on the bounce. Also, it must account for local rivalries, keeping for instance Everton and Liverpool away from Merseyside at the same time. And finally, the rules dictate that all teams should have home and away matches on either side of FA Cup fixtures. And then in the second half of the season, the FA rips up its well-laid plans in a fit of hysteria after cup replays and necessary fixture postponements stack up, making it all one big hot mess.

In addition to the normal Premier League business, Liverpool will also be dealing with fixture congestion surrounding our European commitments, and from the two domestic cups.

And now, the list:

August

12 - Watford (A)

19 - Crystal Palace (H)

26 - Arsenal (H)

September

9 - Manchester City (A)

16 - Burnley (H)

23 - Leicester City (A)

30 - Newcastle United (A)

October

14 - Manchester United (H)

21 - Tottenham Hotspur (A)

28 - Huddersfield Town (H)

November

4 - West Ham United (A)

18 - Southampton (H)

25 - Chelsea (H)

29 - Stoke City (A)

December

2 - Brighton and Hove Albion (A)

9 - Everton (H)

13 - West Bromwich Albion (H)

16 - Bournemouth (A)

23 - Arsenal (A)

26 - Swansea City (H)

30 - Leicester City (H)

January

1 - Burnley (A)

13 - Manchester City (H)

20 - Swansea City (A)

30 - Huddersfield Town (A)

February

3 - Tottenham Hotspur (H)

10 - Southampton (A)

24 - West Ham United (H)

March

3 - Newcastle United (H)

10 - Manchester United (A)

17 - Watford (H)

31 - Crystal Palace (A)

April

7 - Everton (A)

14 - Bournemouth (H)

21 - West Bromwich Albion (A)

28 - Stoke City (H)

May

5 - Chelsea (A)

13 - Brighton and Hove Albion (H)

Skynet has blessed this squad with a rather obscene amount of big games in and around Champions League football. Assuming we qualify. If we don’t, just mentally come back to this page, scratch out “Champions League” with “Europa League” and move all the games to Thursday night. And probably to middle-of-nowhere Russia.

• The first leg of the Champions League qualification play-off will occur between our first and second matches (away to Watford and home to Crystal Palace, respectively) and the second leg will take place just before hosting Arsenal for our third match.
• The Reds will play Manchester City away on September 9th before their first Champions League group stage match on the 12th or 13th.
• Things get real hairy for the Reds in mid-October. We host Manchester United on the 14th, following an international break, then play our third group stage match on the 17th or 18th. Then? It’s a trip to London to face the Spurs. Granted, all of these teams will also have Champions League commitments. But still. Ouch.
• Fast forward a month later, and the Reds have the benefit of playing both Southampton and Chelsea at home. The bad news? A Champions League fixture smack-dab in the middle of the two.
• And to kick off a busy December, the Reds play their final group stage match, before hosting a Merseyside Derby days later.

• Liverpool will play Arsenal twice in the first half of the season which is...weird. The Second (and away) fixture will be on December 23rd.
• The Reds will host Manchester City on January 13th.
• Spurs will visit Anfield on February 3rd.
• Liverpool will make the short trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on March 10th. If either or both clubs are still involved in European action (Round of 16 in both Champions League and Europa League) there will be fixtures either before and/or after this date.
• The second Merseyside Derby takes place on April 7th, with the Reds having to make the trip across the park this time. If Liverpool are lucky enough to be in the quarterfinals of a European competition, there will be commitments before and/or after the Derby.
• Liverpool travel to London to face Chelsea in the penultimate match of the season, on May 5th. If either side has reached the semifinals of a European competition, the second leg will occur days before this one.