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Arne Slot faced his first relentless run at Liverpool before the October international break, but he will have the same amount of games with a day less to spare on return to action.
Between the first and second international breaks of the season, the Reds played seven games in 22 days to emerge with six wins and one frustrating defeat.
Liverpool’s head coach had to embrace rotation, and he ended up making an average of 4.2 changes between games, though the League Cup win over West Ham inflates that figure.
If you take the cup game out of the equation, he averaged 2.2 changes to his XI and 4.2 substitutions during a match.
The Reds return to action against Chelsea, with Enzo Maresca’s side making the trip to Anfield for a late Sunday afternoon kick-off – which starts the run of defining fixtures.
Chelsea are currently fourth in the table and have won each of their three games on the road, outscoring their opponent 10-2. They’ll believe they can win in L4.
A win here will be a major boost to momentum and set the tone ahead of the squad’s time away from Anfield. Slot has put his team in a great position so there’s no reason why this run should not be met with excitement.
Three in a row away from home
The Chelsea game kicking off on Sunday does give Slot slightly extra time to get his internationals settled back in before a run of three away games in the space of a week.
Liverpool will then travel to Leipzig, London and Brighton – which amounts to 1,698 kilometres of air travel for the team in quick succession as they compete in three different competitions.
That makes it four games in just 11 days!
Rotation will surely come into play for the League Cup tie – as long as Slot’s squad is still fit and healthy – and we will soon know if one trophy is off the cards or if a Wembley run is possible.
This run, therefore, is undoubtedly defining for the Reds. Victory at Leipzig will take them a step closer to avoiding a two-game playoff in the Champions League while taking points off Arsenal in the league would be a major boost.
They will have to do so without Alisson, who is not expected to return until after the November international break. At least Liverpool have a class No. 2 to turn to in his absence!
The trip to the Emirates is to give us the strongest indication yet of Liverpool’s credentials, it will shape our expectations and we say, bring it on! It can’t go worse than last season, right?
Arsenal is the game of this particular run, but consistency will be key and rotation will play a huge role in what the scoreboard reads at the end of each 90 minutes.
Then three on the bounce at Anfield
After a whirlwind week of travel, Liverpool can at least then put roots down at Anfield before the third and final international break of 2024 – yes, sadly, there is one more.
Liverpool will be very familiar with Brighton by the time they come to town, and the priority ought to be three league points over League Cup progression, you would think, at least.
We wouldn’t mind both, though!
Xabi Alonso will then return as a manager for the first time, and his side will demand Liverpool to be at their best and full of energy, which could well be waning at this stage.
Aston Villa will do the same just days later, but at least they also have midweek commitments that see them travel to Brugge and have one day less to prepare for Slot’s side.
With 12 league points available, cup progression and a chance to entrench themselves in the top eight of the Champions League, every game is critical.
Slot has made it clear every chance he has had that his side had yet to have sustained tests, but that is quickly about to change – and we’ll know a lot more about what is possible in the coming weeks.
There may be a need to do some trade-offs, but Liverpool have given us a strong indication that they can bounce back from setbacks and string results together despite having little downtime.
Three weeks of Premier League, Champions League and League Cup action. You know what to do, Liverpool!
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