Liverpool handed bad omen two months before first Premier League fixture

Liverpool fans are hoping their team can bounce back from a disappointing Premier League season but already they have been handed a bad omen.

Jurgen Klopp's side won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup in 2021/22 and were agonisingly close to adding the Premier League and Champions League trophies to their collection.

A miraculous Manchester City comeback on the final day prevented the title going to Merseyside, while European juggernauts Real Madrid secured a narrow 1-0 win in the Champions League final.

Everything looked set up for Liverpool to once again go toe-to-toe with City in 2022/23 but things didn't go according to plan.

Klopp's side struggled to put in consistent performances all season and looked particularly shaky in defence.

Liverpool exited the Champions League in the round of 16 after a heavy 6-2 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid, a side that was subsequently dismantled by City a couple of months later.

In the league, the Reds could only muster a fifth-place finish, meaning they will play in the Europa League in the upcoming season for the first time since 2015/16.

However, with a group of talented players and a manager as good as Klopp, Liverpool fans will always go into a fresh season with high expectations.

Unfortunately, the Premier League fixture list has thrown up a familiar problem.

When the 2023/24 league fixtures were announced on Thursday, Liverpool were handed a familiar final-day foe.

Klopp's side will welcome Wolves to Anfield on the final day of the season, the third time that will have happened in the last six years.

Liverpool will yet again host Wolves on the final day of the season. (Image credit: Alamy)

While Liverpool have beaten the Midlands side on both previous occasions, both matches ended with the Reds missing out on the Premier League title to City by a single point.

On the final day of the 2018/19 campaign, a Sadio Mane brace proved not enough as City won 4-1 at Brighton.

That season Liverpool won 30 games and amassed 97 points, the most any team has earned without winning the title.

Three years later history repeated itself, when a 3-1 final-day victory was not enough, thanks to City's comeback win at home to Aston Villa.

On Twitter, Liverpool supporters were not impressed.

"Feel like we play Wolves at home as the last fixture of the season every other year!," one said, while another moaned: "We’re winning all 38 games and somehow missing out aren’t we."

Another fan wrote: "Third time in the last six seasons and we lost out on the league by a point on both occasions, Lord give me strength and courage."

And a fourth predicted: "Losing the title by a point again."