Liverpool Schedule 2016-17: Premier League Fixtures Released
The fixture list for the 2016-17 Premier League season was released on Wednesday, and Liverpool will kick off their campaign against Arsenal on August 13.
Their biggest early challenges come in the form of Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and Chelsea, who the Reds will face in successive weeks in August and September.
Jurgen Klopp will be taking part in his first full season for the Reds and will be hoping to improve on the eighth-placed finish he guided them to last year.
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Here is the complete fixture list for the forthcoming season, per the Premier League's official website:
| 13 Aug 2016 | Arsenal (A) |
| 20 Aug 2016 | Burnley (H) |
| 27 Aug 2016 | Tottenham Hotspur (A) |
| 10 Sep 2016 | Leicester City (H) |
| 17 Sep 2016 | Chelsea (A) |
| 24 Sep 2016 | Hull City (H) |
| 01 Oct 2016 | Swansea City (A) |
| 15 Oct 2016 | Manchester United (H) |
| 22 Oct 2016 | West Bromwich Albion (H) |
| 29 Oct 2016 | Crystal Palace (A) |
| 05 Nov 2016 | Watford (H) |
| 19 Nov 2016 | Southampton (A) |
| 26 Nov 2016 | Sunderland (H) |
| 03 Dec 2016 | AFC Bournemouth (A) |
| 10 Dec 2016 | West Ham United (H) |
| 13 Dec 2016 | Middlesbrough (A) |
| 17 Dec 2016 | Everton (A) |
| 26 Dec 2016 | Stoke City (H) |
| 31 Dec 2016 | Manchester City (H) |
| 02 Jan 2017 | Sunderland (A) |
| 14 Jan 2017 | Manchester United (A) |
| 21 Jan 2017 | Swansea City (H) |
| 01 Feb 2017 | Chelsea (H) |
| 04 Feb 2017 | Hull City (A) |
| 11 Feb 2017 | Tottenham Hotspur (H) |
| 25 Feb 2017 | Leicester City (A) |
| 04 Mar 2017 | Arsenal (H) |
| 11 Mar 2017 | Burnley (A) |
| 18 Mar 2017 | Manchester City (A) |
| 01 Apr 2017 | Everton (H) |
| 05 Apr 2017 | AFC Bournemouth (H) |
| 08 Apr 2017 | Stoke City (A) |
| 15 Apr 2017 | West Bromwich Albion (A) |
| 22 Apr 2017 | Crystal Palace (H) |
| 29 Apr 2017 | Watford (A) |
| 06 May 2017 | Southampton (H) |
| 13 May 2017 | West Ham United (A) |
| 21 May 2017 | Middlesbrough (H) |
When Klopp arrived at Liverpool in October, his arrival was greeted with much fanfare—after Brendan Rodgers' largely disappointing reign, in came a manager with league titles under his belt and a track record of developing players into stars from his time at Borussia Dortmund.
However, while he was able to guide them to both the Capital One Cup and UEFA Europa League finals, he struggled to produce consistent form in the league, and the Reds only finished off two places higher than they were when he took over.
Improving significantly on eighth could be a struggle this year—Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City are all likely to be better than last season under their new managers, while Arsenal perennially finish in the top four and Tottenham have an excellent platform to build upon under Mauricio Pochettino.
Liverpool's lack of European football may turn out to be a blessing in disguise, as it will give their players more time to regain fitness between games and work with Klopp on the training field—an advantage that only Chelsea will share domestically.
ESPN's Alex Shaw and the Liverpool Echo's James Pearce gave their take on Liverpool's early fixtures:
The Reds' tricky start to next season will provide an intriguing test of where they're at after their first pre-season under Klopp, and something of a baptism of fire for their new signings.
Nevertheless, if they can overcome the difficult games without being too far adrift of their rivals, they'll be confident of overhauling them over the course of a long campaign.
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