Liverpool EPL Schedule 2013-14: 6 Early Games to Set the Tone for Reds' Season

The fixture lists for the new 2013-14 Premier League season were released on Wednesday, and fans across the globe were left scouring the dates for their rival clashes, derby matches and other key dates.

For Liverpool, they open on August 17 at home to Stoke City—just one of several important early games that could go some way to showing what kind of campaign the Reds might have.

This is the second season under Brendan Rodgers, the first time since 2010 that Liverpool will have started successive campaigns with the same boss in charge, and a top-four push will be the expectation on the manager and his team.

To do so, Liverpool will need a positive run early in the campaign, taking points from certain key clashes, as opposed to last season when they took six matches to pick up their first victory and only won two out of their first 11 games.

Here are six games within that same time frame that Liverpool need to look at obtaining positive results from to set the tone for their entire season and ensure they're not playing catch-up from the lower reaches of the table too early on.

Schedule via Liverpool FC's home website.

Stoke City, Home, August 17

The opening day of the season is always important, and Liverpool have a tough test as they face Stoke City at home.

Never a side that clubs like to face, this might actually be the best time to face them—it will be Stoke's first game under new boss Mark Hughes. Liverpool will want to hit the ground running and win at home on the opening day, but they'll have to be at their best to get one over the Potters.

The Reds had problems over most of last season with dealing with physical forwards, this will be an early opportunity to see if they have gotten it right by now.

Last season: Liverpool 0, Stoke City 0

Manchester United, Home, August 31

Liverpool don't have long to wait for their first big game of the season, with Manchester United scheduled to visit Anfield on just the third game week, just before the closure of the transfer window.

Hopefully this time around the Reds won't still be scrabbling about trying to bring in another needed player or two.

This will be the first meeting of Liverpool and United in the post-Alex Ferguson era, with another rival boss, David Moyes, having taken the retired Scot's place in the dugout of the Red Devils.

Matches between these two teams are always intense and often fiery, but at home at least, Liverpool have often been able to take the three points and put in a very good performance. It didn't quite happen last year after Jonjo Shelvey was sent off, but there could be an interesting shift in tactical and technical approach from both sides this time around.

Last season: Liverpool 1 (Steven Gerrard), United 2 (Rafael, Robin van Persie penalty)

Swansea City, Away, September 14

Brendan Rodgers has faced his old club, Swansea City, three times as Reds boss, winning, drawing and losing once each.

Liverpool were convincing winners at Anfield last time out, but Swansea had several players out of the side rested in preparation for their League Cup final, so the other two more notable matches ended disappointingly for the Reds.

This time around Rodgers will have had three transfer windows and more than one year to shape the Liverpool side as he wants to, so far better will be expected of his team. Swansea are no easy side to beat, of course, and away from home Liverpool will face a tough challenge—but it's just one of many they have to overcome to achieve their aim of a top-four finish.

How Liverpool fare at Swansea will show in part how far they still are from being the force they want to be.

Last season: Swansea City 0, Liverpool 0

West Bromwich Albion, Home, October 26

One of the games that effectively ended any lingering hopes Liverpool had of European football last season, playing at home to West Brom is both a game the Reds will expect to win and one that they very much should win.

Only one place in the league table separated the Reds and the Baggies at the end of last season—but so did 12 points and a 32-goal swing in goal difference in Liverpool's favour.

The Reds need to be rock-solid at Anfield this term, probably winning around 12 of their 19 home matches, so games like this one need to be put to bed in convincing fashion. That should have been the case last term as the Reds dominated, spurned a penalty and gave a debut to Philippe Coutinho, but the issues of inconsistency in the final third reared their head this time around.

West Brom really gave Liverpool problems late in the game with the pace and power of Romelu Lukaku through the middle, so it will be interesting to see how they do without him next term.

Last season: Liverpool 0, West Brom 2 (Gareth McAuley, Lukaku)

Arsenal, Away, November 2

There was a lot of criticism and disappointment aimed the way of Liverpool last year for not beating a top-six side for much of the season.

It was true, as facts go, but the Reds did draw twice with league champions Manchester City, drew with Arsenal, and drew twice with Chelsea and Everton, in addition to beating Spurs later on in the season.

Even so, if they are to break into the top four of the Premier League, Liverpool will have to start taking more points off their direct rivals, so away at the Emirates Stadium will be a big test of their credentials.

Arsenal could be set to spend serious money this summer, but Liverpool's transfer plans have so far looked positive, and they have no need to fear the Gunners who have been talented but mentally brittle for quite some time.

Last season: Arsenal 2 (Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott), Liverpool 2 (Luis Suarez, Jordan Henderson)

Fulham, Home, November 9

The sixth game of note will be Liverpool's 11th league game of the season; after this point last term the Reds had amassed two wins and just 12 points and sat in 13th place in the table.

A home match against Fulham is, in the normal scheme of events, as near to a guaranteed three points as you are likely to get in the Premier League; the Cottagers have a wretched away record, having won just four times last season outside of Craven Cottage—and that's their best haul in a decade, since they won five times away from home in 2003-04.

Quite simply, these are games that Liverpool—no excuses—have to win.

It sounds easy, simple and obvious, but they are games that the Reds have dropped ridiculous points in over the years.

Last season alone, the Reds failed to win at home against the likes of West Ham, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Stoke. The season before, wins were at a premium at Anfield as the home team drew on no less than nine of 19 occasions.

If Liverpool want Champions League football again, then a home match must become as close to a guarantee as possible of taking a win.

The Reds will need an average of around 2.1 or 2.2 points per home game next season to give themselves a chance of finishing fourth, of course coupled with good away form. In 2012-13, Liverpool's average home points per game was 1.7, so there is certainly plenty of work to do.

A repeat of last term's result would do nicely, and it would also set the Reds up for their 12th league game of the season, which happens to be away against Everton.

Last season: Liverpool 4 (Martin Skrtel, Stewart Downing, Gerrard, Suarez), Fulham 0

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