With the 2019/20 Premier League set to resume on 17 June, Liverpool’s official coronation as the new Premier League has become reality once more. Yet, even though three decades of hurt are about to end, the remaining nine fixtures of Liverpool’s season will undoubtedly have a different feel.
The First-Ever ‘June Derby’
Liverpool’s first opponents post-restart will be city rivals Everton, against whom they boast a nearly ten-year unbeaten run. The long period without contact training may act as something of an equalising factor, but the Reds have far more to play for, and will attain a seventh Premier League double over the Toffees if they win the clash currently slated for Sunday, 21 June.
A summertime derby behind closed doors is as surreal as it gets, but that mutual sense of strangeness would be magnified if the next Merseyside derby is held at a neutral venue. Merseyside Police have not objected to the match being held at an empty Goodison Park, but amid fears of public congregation outside the ground, stadia such as Villa Park and the Etihad Stadium have been touted as potential alternatives.
Anfield’s Fortress Status in Potential Jeopardy
Liverpool need just two wins to seal the title, and with Manchester City being favourites against Arsenal ahead of their game in hand, the day in question may well fall on 24 June, which is a mere week after the official Premier League return date. That date marks Liverpool’s ‘home’ game vs Crystal Palace. Again, there has been talk of holding Liverpool’s flashpoint home fixtures at venues away from Anfield, but there remain more questions than answers.
One of those questions is how the lack of an atmosphere, and the possibility of sealing the title with weeks to spare, will affect Anfield’s ‘fortress’ status – assuming that home games are held there in any case. Back in April, the Reds marked three years since their last league defeat at Anfield, but without the roar of the Kop behind them, or the motivation to slaughter teams in the usual manner, that could be in jeopardy.
Everything must come to an end sooner or later, and it would be highly ironic if Crystal Palace were to end that long unbeaten run. The Eagles themselves were the last away victors at Anfield over a 90-minute period, and their defensive resilience promises to give Liverpool’s unrivalled attack a real test.
Tellingly, ahead of their postponed March clash with Bournemouth, Palace had kept 22 first-half clean sheets, including 15 in the last 19 games beforehand, implying that Liverpool’s customary quickfire start might not be forthcoming.
Champions vs Ex-Champions
While Liverpool may well have sealed the title by the time they face Manchester City on 2 July, there is no telling how the ‘new normal’ will affect them. In some ways, sealing the title in the ‘away’ game at Manchester City would be far more satisfying than doing so against Everton or Palace, potentially at a neutral venue.
The match would also come just four days after City’s FA Cup quarter-final at Newcastle, which could play further into Liverpool’s hands. The Reds will also be chasing a satisfying league double over City, for what would be the first time since City manager Pep Guardiola’s arrival in the Etihad Stadium hotseat.
Playing Away
While the date is not yet finalised, Liverpool will end 2019/20 away to Newcastle. They memorably won 3-2 in the corresponding fixture of 2018/19, adding to the litany of high-scoring games between the Reds and the Magpies played in years past.
They are still on course to exceed the current Premier League record of 100 points in a season (set by Man City in 2017/18), and their away form will be crucial towards achieving it. Yet, even if Liverpool are to play at a variety of venues, they will be determined to break at least one Premier League record, even if a triple-figure points tally is not forthcoming.
While an unbeaten PL campaign has proven elusive, that determination is evidenced by the amazing stats Liverpool boasted before their freak 3-0 defeat at Watford in February. At that point, Liverpool were on an eighteen-match winning streak in the league, and could have set a new PL record with even a mere draw at Vicarage Road.
Up to the end of February, Liverpool had also scored the opening goal in 16 straight league fixtures, while winning with a clean sheet in ten of their preceding 12 league matches, and conceding a league-low average of just 0.63 goals per match. By the same point, Liverpool had been ahead at half-time in 70.37% of their league games.
The Aftermath
Should the 2020/21 campaign start in the conventional month of August, Liverpool would have around four weeks to prepare for it. A late August start would have echoes of Liverpool’s last title-defending campaign (1990/91), which began on 25 August 1990. The hope, naturally, is that it will not precipitate the same long-standing title drought.
On current evidence, superstitiously-minded Reds fans need not worry, as Liverpool are set to become the biggest draw for Europe’s top talents – even if Timo Werner will not be coming to Anfield this summer. The potential return of Philippe Coutinho, amongst other scintillating transfer rumours, promises to provide rays of hope in a newly-despondent world.