Andoni Iraola is now just over a month away from his first official game as Liverpool head coach, and it’s from then that his reign at Anfield will begin to be judged in earnest.
The 44-year-old will have a few pre-season fixtures in which to implement his ideas and try out various combinations of players without the competitive pressure for victory, and that period could prove vital in setting the tone for the campaign ahead
As the start of the 2026/27 Premier League inches ever closer, punters will be checking the sports betting Ireland odds for each game in which LFC are involved – let’s have a look at who the Reds will face in their first five matches, and how many points they’re likely to yield from those games.
Newcastle (A), 23 August
Eddie Howe’s side may have lost Sandro Tonali to Spurs, and Bruno Guimaraes could end up at Arsenal in the coming weeks, but an opening weekend trip to St James’ Park is likely to be fraught with danger for Liverpool.
This was a spicy fixture last summer amid the Alexander Isak transfer saga, and if the Swede is on the pitch for the Reds in a month’s time, the reception he’ll get from the natives won’t be pleasant.
Iraola’s side will obviously target all three points on Tyneside, but coming away with one mightn’t be the worst platform on which to build.
Nottingham Forest (H), 29 August
Remarkably, Forest will be seeking a third consecutive win at Anfield when they visit towards the end of next month in what’ll be Iraola’s first offical game at Liverpool’s iconic home ground.
The Garibaldi’s new boss Oliver Glasner also has a good record at this venue and has overseen a few wins over the Reds in his time at Crystal Palace, but anything other than victory for the Merseysiders here would be bitterly disappointing, especially if they’ve already dropped points at Newcastle.
Ipswich (A), 4 September
Friday night under the lights at Portman Road has ‘banana skin’ written all over it, and Ipswich may still be buoyant after their promotion back to the Premier League, with Gary O’Neil having replaced the revered Kieran McKenna in the dugout.
This has all the makings of one of those games where Liverpool may have to suffer for a while and withstand periods of pressure from the home side, but if the Reds are serious about getting back into a position to challenge for the title, it’s one that we simply must win, even if it isn’t pretty.
Fulham (H), 12 September
Alvaro Arbeloa will return to Anfield as the Cottagers’ new head coach, and his team have made a habit of taking points off Liverpool in recent campaigns.
Again, though, this is a fixture that the Reds will fully expect to win, and hopefully there’ll also be a commanding performance to go with it which’d send a message to the world that Iraola’s LFC mean business in the new season.
Bournemouth (A), 20 September
The pre-game narrative will be dominated by Iraola returning to the club where his global reputation soared, and he oversaw a 3-2 victory against Liverpool on their previous visit in January.
The Cherries will go into this fixture off the back of their first-ever European match three or four days beforehand, a situation that the Reds will be hoping to use to their advantage against a team who their new head coach knows inside out.
A draw at the Vitality Stadium would seem respectable, provided that LFC have a double-digit points tally at this stage of the campaign and Bournemouth pick up where they left off at the end of 2025/26.
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