Liverpool has discovered who it will face in the first match of the 2025/26 season following the conclusion of Saturday’s FA Cup final between Manchester City and Crystal Palace.
Liverpool will kick off the new campaign with the 2025 Community Shield, a game that is historically played between the previous season’s Premier League and FA Cup winners. This term, City beat local rivals Manchester United on penalties.
The Reds now know they will face Palace, following its 1-0 victory at Wembley on Saturday. The south London club won its first-ever major honor thanks to Eberechi Eze’s 16th-minute strike, although Palace had to soak up wave after wave of opposition attack, with City managing to amass 79 per cent possession and 23 shots.
Omar Marmoush also missed a first-half penalty as City fell to consecutive FA Cup final losses. There was also a controversial moment before the break when goalkeeper Dean Henderson handled the ball outside the box and, despite replays showing it was a clear foul, VAR opted against penalizing the former United man.
Had a foul been given, Henderson would almost certainly have been sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
But the Palace players didn’t care about the controversy as they danced around the pitch at full-time. They’re unlikely to be firing on all cylinders in their game, which, of course, comes at Anfield.
It means Liverpool will play back-to-back domestic matches against Palace, albeit separated by a three-month summer gap.
Given Arne Slot has allowed the players to enjoy breaks abroad ahead of the Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion outings, next Sunday’s Premier League conclusion is unlikely to be played at the usual frenetic pace of a top-tier encounter.
Liverpool will then lift the Premier League trophy after the game, a day before the open-top bus parade around the city.
That will also be Trent Alexander-Arnold’s last act as a Liverpool player; he won’t be part of the squad when it takes on Palace in August.
A date has yet to be confirmed for when the Community Shield will take place, but it will likely be on the weekend before the start of the Premier League, which begins on August 16. Liverpool’s trip to Wembley will probably be staged on 9 or 10 August.
Before then, the Reds will travel to Asia for pre-season fixtures against AC Milan in Hong Kong (July 26) and Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan (July 30).
