If Liverpool fans thought last season was special, 2019-20 could take things to a whole new level.
Their Champions League success and second-placed finish in the Premier League in 2018-19 means they will take part in seven different competitions over the next 10 months - the Community Shield, Uefa Super Cup, Club World Cup, Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
If Liverpool go all the way in each competition, they are likely to play 67 games across exactly 300 days — an average of a game every 4.5 days. They will play a minimum of 50 matches if they get knocked out of every cup immediately.
Their total could reach 71 if they finish third in their Champions League group — to go into the Europa League last 32 — and need FA Cup replays in the third and fourth rounds. That is on top of their seven pre-season friendlies in England, the United States, Scotland and Switzerland.
“It would be great if we could use the whole squad throughout the whole season,” said Klopp. “That would make life easier. The number of games sounds big. We have big targets. We will never try to avoid football games. We are happy to have as much as possible, as it means you have had a successful season.
“The league, as always, will be our main focus because we play most of our games there. There are no games where we can say ‘let’s send the kids there’ because all the games are so exciting, close and competitive.”
They could already have won two trophies — beating their 2018-19 haul — by the time they play their second Premier League game of the season. The Reds open the campaign with a Community Shield game against Manchester City at Wembley on Sunday.
After their league opener at home to Norwich on Friday, 9 August, they play Europa League winners Chelsea in an all-English Uefa Super Cup in Istanbul on August 14.
If the Reds go all the way in the Champions League they will be back in Istanbul for the final 290 days later — on May 30, 2020. The city’s Olympic Stadium has wonderful memories for Reds fans, who saw their team beat AC Milan in the final of the same competition at that venue in 2005.
Before that, Liverpool face a very busy December. The festive period is hectic at the best of times - but Liverpool will play at least eight games in 29 days over Christmas - including a 7,000-mile round trip to Qatar. In the Club World Cup, being held in the Gulf state from 11 to 21 December, Liverpool will go in at the semi-final stage on December 18, with the 2019 South American champions in the other last-four tie.
Jurgen Klopp’s team will have have at least one Premier League fixture moved as a result - their game against West Ham is scheduled to be on the same day as the final and third-place play-off.
If the West Ham game is shifted forwards or backwards by a few days, the Reds will play six Premier League games in December - and again on January 1. The Carabao Cup quarter-finals are scheduled for the week beginning 16 December too.
Odds are not currently available on the Club World Cup. But a £1 accumulator on Liverpool to win the other six would earn £6,790.