Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal are shaping up for a run of nine crucial matches in the space of a month.
Ten days on, it still hurts Liverpool supporters. Losing to Manchester United always does. But in that manner…
But out of the bad comes good and the heartbreaking 4-3 FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford will surely serve to refocus the minds of everyone at the AXA Training Centre ahead of a season run-in that still promises so much.
While a quadruple is now out of the question, a treble is not. Liverpool already have the Carabao Cup in the bag and, while never saying as much publicly, they will be pleased with how the Europa League draw has panned out. There is a clear road to Dublin.
The route to a second Premier League title is not so straightforward. Manchester City need no introduction. But this appears a different Arsenal team to the one that folded last season under the considerable pressure City apply at this stage of a campaign. We have a genuine three-horse title race on our hands.
But if there was any consolation to the last-gasp loss to United, it came before and after the match. There was the aforementioned Europa League draw. Atalanta, and then Marseille or Benfica, stand in the way of the Reds making the final. It would be a major shock if they did not get there.
In contrast, City and Arsenal could not have been handed harder Champions League draws. The former will play Real Madrid while the latter will play Bayern Munich before the winners of those two ties meet in the semi-finals.
City, chasing the treble for the second successive season, didn’t get it easy in the FA Cup semi-final draw either., which followed Liverpool’s defeat. While United’s reward was a showdown with giant-killing Coventry, the holders will have to get past a Chelsea side they have been unable to twice in the Premier League this season. It adds another big game – after the two with Madrid – to a hugely testing month of fixtures for Pep Guardiola’s men.
Between Sunday, March 31, when they all return to action, the current Premier League top three play nine matches in the space of 29 days. But who has the hardest domestic fixtures?
According to Fantasy Premier League’s Fixture Difficult Rating (FDR), which uses a scale of 1-5, from easy to hard, City have the second best run of top-flight games out of the title-chasing trio. While their home meeting with Arsenal is rated as a 5, they have three games rated as 2 (Crystal Palace A, Luton Town H, Nottingham Forest A) and two games rated as 3 (Aston Villa H, Brighton A). However, those matches with Palace and Luton are sandwiched between the sure-to-be taxing legs against Madrid.
According to FDR, Arsenal have the hardest Premier League run over the course of the next month out of the three teams at the top. After the huge showdown with City at the Etihad (5), they have one game rated as 4 (Tottenham Hotspur A), three games rated as 3 (Brighton A, Aston Villa H, Chelsea H) and two games rated as 2 (Luton H, Wolves A).
And it’s worth noting that the trip to Brighton kick-offs at 5.30pm on Saturday, April 6, with the Gunners’ first leg against Bayern Munich coming just over 72 hours later on Tuesday, April 9 (8pm), while their matches against Villa and Wolves are sandwiched between the second leg in Germany.
That means according to FDR, Liverpool have the best Premier League run of the championship challengers over the period, with four games rated as 2 (Brighton H, Sheffield United H, Crystal Palace H, Everton A), two games rated as 3 (Fulham A, West Ham United A) and one game rated as 4 (Manchester United A). The Reds, of course, have European commitments of their own, and the second leg against Atalanta on Thursday, April 18 kick-starts a testing run of four away matches in the space of 10 days.
But while football is not played on paper, it will not stop fans from poring over the possible permutations, and it would be hard pressed not to suggest that over the next month, when three trophies could be lost, it is Jurgen Klopp’s men who have the bet set of fixtures. Here’s how they look…
Liverpool confirmed fixtures for March and April
Sunday, March 31: Brighton H, Premier League, 2pm kick-off
Thursday, April 4: Sheffield United H, Premier League, 7.30pm kick-off
Sunday, April 7: Manchester United A, Premier League, 3.30pm kick-off
Thursday, April 11: Atalanta H, Europa League, 8pm kick-off
Sunday, April 14: Crystal Palace H, Premier League, 2pm kick-off
Thursday, April 18: Atalanta A, Europa League, 8pm kick-off
Sunday, April 21: Fulham A, Premier League, 4.30pm kick-off
Wednesday, April 24: Everton A, Premier League, 8pm kick-off
Saturday, April 27: West Ham Uni
ted A, Premier League, 12.30pm kick-off.
