Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp's side will be looking to go one better than last season, when they missed out on the title by just a point to Manchester City.

The Reds also challenged on all other fronts, picking up two trophies in addition to reaching the final of the Champions League, so they will be among the favourites in every competition once again this time around.

Here, Sports Mole picks out five talking points from the 2022-23 Premier League fixture list.

High-scoring start

There is an air of predictability about Liverpool being drawn against a newly-promoted side first up now - this fixture list makes them the first team in English top-flight history to open their campaign against a promoted team four years in a row.

Klopp's men have won each of the past three, but that is not to say that they have been easy games; a 4-1 win over Norwich in 2019-20 was not as straightforward as the scoreline suggests, while Leeds United gave them an almighty scare in a 4-3 opening-day thriller in 2020-21.

If last season's statistics are anything to go by, that Leeds game could be a template for what we see on Saturday, August 6, with Liverpool and Fulham netting a whopping 200 league goals between them in 2021-22.

Fulham accounted for 106 of those, with Aleksandar Mitrovic particularly prolific, and even though the Premier League will prove a much tougher testing ground, this is a Fulham team with plenty of goals in them.

Liverpool will not change their style of play either, which could make this fixture the one to watch on the opening day of the season.

Early Manchester United test

Even though Manchester City have developed to be Liverpool's most competitive rivals, whenever the fixture list is revealed, most fans' eyes will immediately look for the dates they face Manchester United.

Liverpool fans will not have had to scroll down too far to find it this time around, with English football's two most successful clubs renewing hostilities in just the third game of the season.

It is a trip to Old Trafford which Liverpool fans may be relishing, having memorably won 5-0 there last season, before adding a 4-0 win at Anfield for good measure later in the campaign.

However, this will be a different Man United to the ones that fell down 9-0 on aggregate to their greatest rivals, and three games into the new season there is sure to still be a sense of optimism and hope under new boss Erik ten Hag, even if he does not get off to a perfect start.

It will be a new-look Man United - potentially bolstered by some big-name signings - and it will be a testing early-season encounter for Klopp's title hopefuls.

Manchester City showdowns

As big as the Manchester United games will always be, they are no longer decisive in the way that Liverpool vs. Manchester City showdowns have become.

Last season the two outstanding sides in English football right now played out two thrilling 2-2 draws, while Liverpool ran out 3-2 winners in the FA Cup semi-finals but ultimately missed out on the Premier League title by just a point.

Both sides have strengthened their attacks with major signings already this transfer window, with Liverpool adding Darwin Nunez to an attack which scored 94 league goals last term and Manchester City snapping up Erling Braut Haaland to bolster a forward line that netted 99 times without a recognised centre-forward.

Man City are likely to go into the season as favourites again, but Liverpool seem to be their kryptonite, and if the Reds can pinch a win in either meeting, it could ultimately decide the title race.

The two will do battle for the first time at Anfield on the weekend of October 15, before the reverse fixture is played at the Etihad Stadium at the beginning of April. Speaking of which...

Decisive April

Liverpool begin their April with that trip to the Etihad Stadium, and that sets the tone for what could potentially be a decisive month - particularly if they are once again challenging on all fronts.

Klopp's side are scheduled to play no fewer than six Premier League games in April, with a home match against Arsenal following a week after the away game against Man City.

Liverpool then travel to Leeds United and host Nottingham Forest on consecutive weekends, before a midweek trip to face West Ham United at the London Stadium.

A meeting with Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield then rounds off a hectic April which will see Liverpool not only face three of the 'big six' - including their expected main title rivals - but could also see them play three further fixtures in other competitions.

The FA Cup semi-finals are also scheduled for April, while the Champions League quarter-finals are due for April 11 and 19 - straight after Liverpool's games against Arsenal and Leeds respectively.

Kind end to the season

April may be a gruelling month for Liverpool, but they have been handed a relatively kind end to the season on paper, with none of their final four games coming against teams that finished in the top seven last term.

Indeed, none of the four teams they finish against this time around had much to fight for at all at the same stage of the 2021-22 campaign, so Liverpool will be hoping for more of the same this time around.

The Reds begin May at home to Brentford - a club they had trouble against last season but will be firm favourites to beat - before a trip to face Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

A home game against Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa is their penultimate match of the campaign - and their final game at Anfield - before finishing 2022-23 with a trip to face Southampton.

The possible inclusion of Champions League semi-finals could make things a little more tricky - particularly if each of those games are must-win again in the league - but Spurs being their only 'big six' opponent in their final eight games of the season is about as kind an end as they could have hoped for.