Major Headache For Jurgen Klopp With The Release Of EPL Fixtures
Written By Onyeka Daniel
Today, the English Premier League released the fixtures for the 2023/24 season with the League set to kick off on the 11th of August that would see Manchester City start their title defense against Burnley.
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For Jurgen Klopp and the Reds, this season could present a major headache in their quest to make it back into the top four. They will be competing in the Europa League this season, but that is the least of their worries as the Reds could be without their influential forward, Mo Salah at a crucial time of their season.
Two days after the opening game between City and Burnley, the Reds kick off the season with a testing trip to the Stamford Bridge to face a new-look Chelsea under new manager, Mauricio Pochettino, before hosting Bournemouth at Anfield on Saturday, August 19. Then comes another tough away game against Newcastle to finish off August.
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Yet theur toughest run of the campaign appears to come around the Christmas period starting in mid-December including games against top-four rivals Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle in a hectic schedule. It is a run of games that is likely to define their campaign. The Reds will hope to be close to full strength for that run of games but they are also resigned to losing Salah the following month due to national team duties.
The Egyptian will be representing his country at the African Cup of Nations whihc will be held In Ivory Coast and will last from 13 January through to 11 February and barring an early elimination for Egypt, Salah is likely to be unavailable for club selection for up to a month in what will come as a blow to Klopp’s team.
Egypt already sealed their qualification for the tournament on Wednesday, as Salah featured in his nation’s 2-1 victory at Guinea. This result ensured that the Pharaohs top their group with Malawi and Ethiopia both missing out on qualification from the group.
It means that Salah is set to miss four Premier League matches for Liverpool, alongside both legs of the EFL Cup semi-final, should the Reds make it that far and also the opening rounds of the FA Cup, which will fall during this period.
The 31-year-old will miss the away game against Bournemouth, the first Premier League game of the 2024 calendar year for the Reds, before missing two of their most noteworthy games of the campaign, at home to Chelsea and away against Arsenal.
Those three games yielded a solitary point for Liverpool in the just concluded season, with Salah also set to miss the clash against Burnley at Anfield in early February, should Egypt advance into the latter stages of the African Cup of Nations.
Meanwhile…
Manchester City defender, Kyle Walker is said to be considering his future at the Etihad Stadium and feels like his time with the club is coming to an end, with a move away from the club next in his agenda. According to the report, a move back to his boyhood club, Sheffield United is on the card.
Instead of joining any other club, he would rather move abroad where he has plenty of admirers, including Italian side, Inter Milan while a move to Saudi Arabia can’t be ruled out either. Walker has a year left on his City contract and has previously stated a desire to return to Bramall Lane, where he started his career.
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The defender was snapped up by Tottenham in 2009 when the London club paid £9million for him and Kyle Naughton. He was loaned back to Sheffield United for the 2009/10 season as part of the deal, but was recalled back to Tottenham in February 2010.
He then had further loans to QPR and Aston Villa before establishing himself as a Spurs regular in the 2011/12 season. Over the following six season, he wracked up over 200 appearances, and helping them finish in the top four in three of those campaigns.
City came calling in 2017 and agreed a deal of up to £50m for the star right-back. Walker was 27 when he joined the Manchester club and had no trophies to his name, but quickly made up for lost time. Since then, he has won 14 trophies and that includes five Premier Leagues and the Champions League.
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