Honestly, looking back at the Liverpool fixtures 2023 24 feels like watching a high-budget thriller where the protagonist wins a side quest but loses the main plot in the final ten minutes. It was Jurgen Klopp’s "Last Dance," a season defined by a massive midfield rebuild and a literal mountain of injuries that eventually broke the squad's back.
You’ve probably heard the narrative that they "bottled" it.
That’s kinda unfair.
When you actually dig into the schedule, you see a team that spent months playing on pure adrenaline and youth academy vibes before the physical reality of the Premier League caught up to them.
The Chaos of the Early Liverpool fixtures 2023 24
The season kicked off at Stamford Bridge. A 1-1 draw against Chelsea on August 13 set a weird tone—lots of transition, lots of "new look" midfield energy with Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai making their debuts. But the real madness started a few weeks later at St. James' Park.
Remember the Newcastle game?
August 27. Virgil van Dijk gets sent off early. Liverpool are down a goal and a man in a stadium that sounds like a jet engine. Then Darwin Nuñez comes off the bench to score twice in the 81st and 93rd minutes. It was the kind of result that makes you think a team is destined to win the league.
Key Results from the Opening Months:
- Chelsea (A): 1-1 (The "Wait, where is our defensive mid?" game)
- Bournemouth (H): 3-1 (First win at Anfield)
- Newcastle (A): 1-2 (The Darwin Nuñez miracle)
- Aston Villa (H): 3-0 (Total dominance)
- Wolves (A): 1-3 (The first of many second-half comebacks)
Basically, Liverpool became the comeback kings. They kept conceding first and then deciding to play football in the second half. It’s an exhausting way to live. By the time they hit the controversial Tottenham fixture on September 30—the one with the Luis Diaz "ghost goal" that VAR somehow missed—the schedule was already looking grueling. That 2-1 loss at Spurs was their first league defeat, and it was entirely wrapped in refereeing drama.
Why the Winter Schedule Changed Everything
December is always a meat grinder in English football, but for Liverpool, the Liverpool fixtures 2023 24 in the winter were especially brutal because they were juggling the Europa League and the Carabao Cup.
They played eight games in December alone.
Eight.
It started with a wild 4-3 win over Fulham at Anfield where they were losing in the 86th minute. Then came the draws. A 0-0 against Manchester United (where Liverpool had 34 shots and somehow didn't score) and a 1-1 against Arsenal on December 23.
While everyone else was opening presents, Klopp was trying to figure out how to keep his defenders from exploding. Joel Matip had already torn his ACL against Fulham, ending his Liverpool career on a random Sunday. Then Kostas Tsimikas broke his collarbone against Arsenal. Suddenly, the "depth" everyone talked about was Joe Gomez playing every single position on the back line.
The "Klopp Kids" and the Wembley Peak
On January 26, 2024, the world stopped for Liverpool fans. Klopp announced he was leaving at the end of the season.
Suddenly, every fixture felt heavier.
The standout moment of the entire Liverpool fixtures 2023 24 list isn't even a Premier League game. It’s February 25. The Carabao Cup Final against Chelsea.
Liverpool had no Salah. No Darwin. No Jota. No Trent. No Alisson. They ended the game with Jayden Danns, James McConnell, and Bobby Clark on the pitch—teenagers who probably still had homework due on Monday. Virgil van Dijk’s header in the 118th minute won it. It was the peak of the season, a trophy won against all odds, and honestly, probably the moment the squad’s gas tank hit "E."
The April Collapse Nobody Talks About Correctly
By April, the bill for all those injuries and late-game heroics finally came due.
People point to the 2-2 draw at Old Trafford on April 7 as the start of the end. Liverpool dominated, but a stray pass from Jarell Quansah let Bruno Fernandes score from the halfway line. That result felt like a psychic wound.
Then came the real shockers.
📖 Related: What Football Team Did Jackie Robinson Play For? The Gridiron Legacy Most People Forget
- Atalanta (H): 0-3 (Europa League Quarter-final, April 11)
- Crystal Palace (H): 0-1 (Premier League, April 14)
Losing at Anfield twice in four days? Unheard of. The Palace game was especially painful because Liverpool missed about six sitters. According to stats from FBref, Liverpool finished the season with 191 "player absences" due to injury or suspension. For comparison, Manchester City and Arsenal had significantly fewer long-term issues during that same stretch.
The legs were gone. Mohamed Salah, returning from a hamstring injury suffered at AFCON, didn't look like himself. The clinical edge disappeared. By the time they lost the Merseyside Derby 2-0 at Goodison Park on April 24, the title race was effectively over.
The Final Farewell at Anfield
The last few Liverpool fixtures 2023 24 were essentially a long goodbye.
A 4-2 win over Spurs and a chaotic 3-3 draw with Aston Villa led to the finale: Wolves at home on May 19.
The match itself was secondary. Liverpool won 2-0 with goals from Mac Allister and Quansah, but the day belonged to Klopp. It was the end of an era that saw Liverpool return to the top of world football. They finished 3rd with 82 points—a massive improvement on the previous year, but a "what if" season considering they were top of the table in early April.
2023-24 Season Statistical Reality:
- Total Goals Scored: 86 (League)
- Top Scorer: Mohamed Salah (18 League / 25 All Comps)
- Clean Sheets: 10 (A low number for a title contender)
- Total Games Played: 58 across all competitions
Actionable Insights for Fans and Analysts
If you're looking back at this season to understand what happened, don't just look at the scores. Look at the timing.
- The Midfield Rebuild Worked: Moving on from Fabinho and Henderson was the right call. Mac Allister proved he's world-class, and Wataru Endo was the bargain of the decade.
- The Injury Crisis was the Deciding Factor: You can't lose your starting keeper, both left-backs, and your best forward for months and expect to beat a robotic Manchester City side.
- The Youth Integration was a Success: The emergence of Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley during the densest part of the fixture list saved the season from being a total washout.
The 2023-24 campaign proved that Liverpool’s system is incredibly resilient, but even the best systems have a breaking point when the schedule doesn't let up.
For anyone researching the historical context of these matches, the most important takeaway is that the "collapse" wasn't a lack of heart—it was a lack of healthy bodies. Moving into the Arne Slot era, the priority shifted immediately to medical and performance overhauls to ensure the 362 combined games missed by players in 23/24 never happens again.