Brendan Rodgers will have to demonstrate immediate improvement at Liverpool, as his team will kick off their next Premier League campaign at Stoke City, who walloped them 6-1 at the Britannia Stadium at the end of last season.
That was Liverpool’s heaviest defeat since 1963 and compounded doubts about Rodgers ability to stimulate an upswing in performances. The club decided to keep faith with the Northern Irishman following an end-of-season review but Rodgers must hire new backroom staff during the summer, as his long-time assistant, Colin Pascoe, was let go along with the first-team coach, Mike Marsh. Liverpool also need to recruit players.
Liverpool’s first seven away games could scarely be more testing, the match at Stoke being followed by visits to Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City.
Following the trip to Stoke, Liverpool will host newly promoted Bournemouth, who begin their first Premier League campaign at home to Aston Villa.
Norwich will mark their return to the top flight by hosting Crystal Palace, while Watford will take on Everton at Goodison Park.
The champions, Chelsea, start their campaign at home to Swansea City but the following week will bring an early-season crunch match, as José Mourinho’s team travel to Manchester City for a game that will give an indication of the ability of Manuel Pellegrini’s side to mount a stronger title challenge. City start their season away to West Bromwich Albion.
Arsenal will begin their campaign against a pair of London opponents, as they host Slaven Bilic’s West Ham in their first match before travelling to Crystal Palace. Their third game of the season is at home to Liverpool.
Harry Kane is scheduled to be in action at Old Trafford on the first day of the season for Tottenham Hotspur, although if speculation about his future turns out to be true, the striker could be in the colours of Manchester United.
Steve McClaren’s faces a difficult start to his reign as Newcastle United manager, starting with a game against Southampton at St James’ Park before visits to Swansea City and Manchester United and a home match against Arsenal.
