Liverpool’s bid to win the title is summed by the adage – marathon, not a sprint – with only one Premier League game coming up in March.
The famous football saying has become redundant in recent seasons, with the increasingly bloated calendar leaving little room for rest.
That has been true for the majority of Liverpool‘s campaign as the club were fighting on all four fronts by the start of 2025.
The Reds’ 2-0 win over Premier League champions Manchester City extended their gap at the top of the table to 11 points.
Arne Slot‘s side now complete their mammoth run of five Premier League games in 15 days tonight against Newcastle, live on talkSPORT.
However, that will be followed by a run of just one top-flight match in five weeks before the team’s schedule ramps up again for the run-in.
Why do Liverpool only have one Premier League game in March?
The Meseysiders’ unique schedule for next month is two-fold – FA Cup fixture changes, and their inclusion in the Carabao Cup final.
In January 2024, the FA Cup fourth round fixtures were split and staggered during the winter break, with replays also a factor.
However, the winter break was scrapped this year, which had been in effect in England’s top-flight since the 2019/20 season.
Its absence, coupled with the removal of FA Cup replays has bunched up the fixture list for football’s oldest competition this term.
It has meant there will be just two Premier League game weeks in March, with two FA Cup rounds staged at either end of the month.
In between those domestic games, international football will also make its return, with World Cup qualification set to begin.
Liverpool’s March fixtures
March 5 – PSG (Champions League last-16 first leg) Away
March 8 – Southampton (Premier League) Home
March 11 – PSG (Champions League last-16 second leg) Home
March 16 – Newcastle (EFL Cup final) Wembley
Liverpool are in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on March 16 – the second and final Premier League matchday of the month.
As a result, their league game with Aston Villa – a 3-3 draw at Villa Park – was brought forward to February.
Why couldn’t they play during FA Cup weekends?
Liverpool are already out of the competition following their surprise 1-0 defeat to Championship side Plymouth Argyle.
However, the FA have insisted that among the changes to replays, there will be clear weekends for the fifth round and quarter-finals.
This prevented the rearranged Merseyside derby from being held in March, with neighbours Everton also eliminated from the FA Cup.
It means Liverpool’s only Premier League match next month will be against strugglers Southampton at Anfield on Saturday, 8 March.
Liverpool will only be in action another two times across March – both legs of their Champions League last-16 tie with Paris Saint-Germain.
The club will potentially play another eight games in April should they progress in Europe, which looks likely with their added rest.
Slot was asked whether he needs to reinforce the message that the title race isn’t over and replied: “I don’t think I need to even enforce that message because these are the players that played – and I know the [Nottingham] Forest fans are going to like me saying this again – but these players played the Forest home game, these players played the Fulham home game, these same players played the Manchester United home game and the same players played Newcastle away, which was a very difficult game for us – two times being a goal down and then being one goal up and eventually drawing it to 3-3.
“I don’t think it’s necessary. These players are so long in this competition – even much longer than me – so they know how difficult every single game is and if you have to play 11 it’s still a long way to go.”