Manchester City and Manchester United discovered their fixture schedules for the 2023/24 Premier League campaign on Thursday morning.
City will begin the defence of their title with a trip to newly-promoted Burnley on Friday, August 11, while United will welcome Wolves to Old Trafford on Monday, August 14, meaning both clubs will get their campaigns up and running under the lights. However, both of them will have to wait a little bit longer before they discover their opponents for the Champions League group stages.
The draw for the group stages of Europe's premier club competition does not take place until Thursday, August 31. City will be looking to retain their Champions League crown next season while United will be glad to be back in the competition after a year in the Europa League.
However, Liverpool will not be so lucky after they missed out on a top-four finish in 2022/23, meaning they will compete in the Europa League next term. They have not featured in the competition since 2015/16.
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The Merseysiders are one of just 12 teams already confirmed to be in the group stages and are guaranteed to be in Pot One, meaning they already have a slight inclination of how their fixture pattern could develop. The draw for the Europa League group stages will be made on Friday, September 1.
Being involved in the Europa League, as United and their supporters know only too well from this season, means that it is rare for a club to play a domestic league fixture on a Saturday, as all Europa League games are staged on Thursday nights. It means Liverpool could play a huge chunk of their 2023/24 Premier League fixtures on Sundays and Mondays next season.
Matchday five of next season's Europa League campaign is penciled in to take place on Thursday, November 30. City are due to face Liverpool a few days earlier at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, November 25, and given the intense rivalry that has developed between the two sides over the past few seasons, Jurgen Klopp could no doubt do without such a huge fixture just five days before the penultimate game of his side's Europa League group stage schedule.
While preparations for matchday five of his side's campaign could be hampered by City, a clash with United could be in the back of Klopp's mind as his side prepare for matchday six.
United's trip to Anfield to face Liverpool, currently scheduled for Saturday, December 16, is certain to be moved. The sixth and final matchday of the Europa League group stages is penciled in to take place on Thursday, December 14, and so the Reds' trip to Merseyside is likely to take place on Sunday, December 17 instead, or possibly even Monday, December 18.
Should Liverpool's clashes with City and United have a negative impact on their Europa League campaign, Klopp's men could find themselves in a spot of bother as they look to progress to the knockout rounds of Europe's secondary club competition.
Failure to finish in the top two could mean they drop into the Europa Conference League, meaning they would be forced to add another two fixtures to an already packed schedule as they are entered into a play-off round, just as United were in the Europa League last season.
With such a congested fixture list, the last thing a team needs is to add further unnecessary games to their schedule, but City and United could force Liverpool to do just that.
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