The 2022/23 Premier League season promises to be a unique experience for all involved.
A pause of 43 days will come into play after Liverpool host Southampton on November 12 due to the World Cup, with league action not resuming until Boxing Day. Jurgen Klopp's side will mark their return to top-flight football with a trip to Aston Villa, marking the start of a somewhat favourable run following a hectic period.
How teams will respond to playing in a major tournament in the middle of the season remains to be seen as players face the task of maintaining high standards after participating in a demanding schedule in Qatar. For Liverpool, a set of somewhat favourable fixtures will greet them after the tournament as they taken on Aston Villa, Leicester City, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea and Wolves in their first six games back.
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Manchester City's schedule is less kind in comparison as Pep Guardiola's side travel to Leeds United on Boxing Day, followed by meetings with Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United and Wolves to complete a testing month of matches.
A further potential blow for City relates to the number of players they are likely to have competing at the World Cup, which is expected to be far greater than the number Liverpool will send. The Citizens could lose as many as 16 first-team players as a result of the tournament while the Reds' worst-case scenario would only result in a handful of stars - perhaps seven or eight - being selected for international duty.
Alisson Becker is expected to start for Brazil at the World Cup, with Virgil van Dijk another certainty to feature at the tournament. Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold are by no means guaranteed a place in their respective national sides, with it highly likely at least one of this trio will not participate.
Similarly to Alisson, Fabinho will be expected to play a part for the Seleção but Thiago is out of favour for Spain and it would be a surprise to see the 31-year-old featuring on a regular basis. Jordan Henderson is 50/50 for England but, even if named in Gareth Southgate's squad, Declan Rice and Kalvin Philips are both ahead of the Reds' skipper in the midfield pecking order.
Mohamed Salah has missed out on the World Cup altogether after suffering defeat to Sadio Mane's Senegal in a play-off match while Luis Diaz's Colombia also failed to make the cut. Roberto Firmino finds himself in a similar position to Henderson, though Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota are likely to play key roles.
Neco Williams, Takumi Minamino, Sadio Mane are also Qatar-bound, though there is a strong chance the trio could leave the club this summer and therefore would reduce the knock-on effect on Liverpool's chances of making an instant adjustment back to the domestic calendar.
