Andoni Iraola has no excuse not to oversee dazzling Liverpool start after Opta reveal

Opta believes that Liverpool have the easiest opening five fixtures in the 2026-27 Premier League campaign.

Andoni Iraola will take charge of his first competitive match as manager of the Reds on Sunday when the club travel to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle United.

Despite heavily impressing at Bournemouth last season, Liverpool’s new manager has had a tricky pre-season, as the club suffered defeats to the likes of Leeds United and Monaco.

Injuries have also been a huge problem throughout the summer for the Reds, with numerous players being out on the sidelines.

However, Iraola simply must get off to an excellent start in the Premier League given Liverpool’s opening fixture list.

The supercomputer has insisted that the Merseyside club have a solid opening set of fixtures, which should correlate to numerous points.

Liverpool have easiest opening five fixtures in the Premier League

According to Opta’s predictions, Opta have a pretty simple opening five matches.

After their opening match against Newcastle, they host Nottingham Forest at Anfield.

This is followed by a trip to newly promoted Ipswich Town before returning to Merseyside to host Fulham.

Their fifth fixture will see Iraola return to the Vitality Stadium to take on Bournemouth.

Unsurprisingly, Opta believes this is by far the easiest start to the season, with an average opponent rating of 91.2.

All five of Liverpool’s opponents come into the season with a new manager, with one club only just returning to the Premier League.

Three of the four Premier League teams from last season also finished in the bottom half in the 2025-26 campaign, with many only getting weaker in the ongoing summer transfer window.

Therefore, it is clear that Iraola simply has no excuses not to pick up at least 10 points in Liverpool’s opening fixtures.

Where are Liverpool predicted to finish this season?

Fortunately for Liverpool fans, the club is predicted to improve this campaign.

Opta believes that the Reds will achieve a third-place finish, two positions higher than last season.

A third Premier League title is not out of the question, but is seen as highly unlikely, with just a 9.16 per cent chance.

However, if Iraola is able to get some momentum in the opening fixtures, who knows what may happen.