9 games in 29 days: Iraola’s Liverpol reign is about to be turbo-charged after promising start

Andoni Iraola has had a steady if unspectacular start to his reign as Liverpool head coach, with four wins and three draws from his first seven games, but it’s over the next month that his credentials will truly be tested.

With the extended international window now completed, the Basque will get his players back to the AXA Training Centre this week ahead of a daunting sequence of nine matches in 29 days, starting with a blockbuster Anfield showdown against Manchester City on Sunday.

Let’s take a look at what lies ahead for the Reds as the autumn fixture schedule becomes turbo-charged.

Liverpool’s next 9 fixtures

Any time Man City visit Anfield, the raucousness of the home crowd increases a few notches, but Sunday’s fixture will be heaving with raw emotion amid the context of Liverpool’s opponents being found guilty of 114 charges of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules.

With Iraola unbeaten thus far in his new job and Enzo Maresca’s side boasting a 100% record in the top flight this term, something will have to give in what has the makings of an epic.

Three days later, the Reds resume their Champions League campaign with a visit to Austria to take on LASK, who they defeated twice in the Europa League group stage in 2023/24.

The Linz outfit went down to a narrow defeat to AEK Athens in their first game in the competition and are third in their domestic league after seven matches, two points off leaders Rapid Vienna.

There’s another quick turnaround to what’s become one of the most feared fixtures in the Premier League – Brentford away. That’s especially the case this time around considering the Bees’ excellent start to the season, with Keith Andrews’ side currently fourth in the table.

Liverpool then have a fourth match in 10 days when they host Villarreal in the Champions League, the team’s first meeting in the competition since the semi-finals in 2022.

Inigo Perez’s side lost 3-2 at Borussia Dortmund in their league phase opener and have had a subdued start to their LaLiga campaign, sitting ninth in the table with eight points from a possible 21.

Iraola’s team then have a welcome breather until hosting Brighton the following Sunday in the Premier League.

The Seagulls have enjoyed a terrific start domestically, perched in third place behind Man City and Arsenal, and they’ll be keen to avenge a pair of defeats at Anfield from last season.

Then comes a midweek clash at home to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, which’ll provide both teams with an opportunity for rotation, although the Blues will be fresher without European commitments this term.

A fourth consecutive home fixture for Liverpool is another blockbuster as they begin November with the visit of an Arsenal side who dethroned them as Premier League champions.

Given that the clocks will have gone back by then, it’ll be a floodlit showdown at Anfield, where the Gunners haven’t won in the top flight for 14 years. Let’s extend that sequence further, Reds!

Three days later, Iraola’s men are in Istanbul for a daunting Champions League clash against Fenerbahce, who drew with Roma in their most recent European outing.

Liverpool will hope for better luck in the city than they had last season, where they were twice beaten by Galatasaray.

The frantic 29-day fixture run ends with another tough away day at Crystal Palace on 8 November, the final match for both teams before the late-autumn international window.

It was a 2-1 defeat at Selhurst Park last season which saw the beginning of a rapid descent in the Reds’ fortunes, from which they never truly recovered. Here’s hoping a positive result this time might have the opposite effect.