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The common consensus over Liverpool’s fixture list is that the home game with Manchester United represented the buffer.

Once Jose Mourinho’s bus pulled out of Anfield, the hard graft was over. The visit of their bitter rivals would be the end of a nightmare start; the hill had been climbed, it was time for the descent.

Arsenal on the opening weekend. Trips to Tottenham and Chelsea. A home game – the first one in front of the redeveloped Main Stand, no less – against champions Leicester.

Then, United, and a full-time whistle to signal a serene few months of Liverpool scoring goals and winning games, stress-free.

That notion went out of the window with around 10 minutes before that whistle sounded.

With the game goalless, Emre Can conceded a corner in front of the Anfield Road end; the pocket of United fans cheered, the rest of Anfield inhaled sharply. When it was taken, a wince, followed by a sigh of relief as it was cleared away.

It was United’s one and only corner of the game, but the tension swirled around the stadium. For too long, the Reds have struggled when dealing with balls into the box; even this season, they have looked vulnerable defending against height and power.

The major concern of United coming to Anfield did not surround the world’s most expensive player, Paul Pogba, nor Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Marcus Rashford.

Instead, the focus was on Chris Smalling, Marouane Fellaini, Eric Bailly. Any worry over Pogba or Ibrahimovic derived from what they could do with their heads, rather than their feet.

Liverpool dealt with that well enough on Monday, and they will have to deal with it over the next month, too.

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The easy work starts now, apparently. That is a viewpoint Jurgen Klopp will want to dismiss, but it cannot be argued that, in theory, Liverpool’s next few months seem a little bit gentler than the previous two.

Liverpool face just one of last season’s top six between now and New Year’s Eve, with a trip to Southampton in mid-November. There is a Merseyside derby in that time, of course, as well as long-haul trips to Bournemouth and Middlesbrough, but the difficulty of what Liverpool will face generally decreases from August and September.

Indeed, the next three games could be regarded as a real opportunity for Liverpool to solidify their credentials – whether that be as title challengers or serious top-four contenders.

Two home games against mid-table sides, and a winnable away game – albeit at a ground which holds bad memories for the Reds – is much preferred to the likes of Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and United.

That Liverpool have taken 17 points from those eight games only furthers that thought.

But as United proved, Liverpool can become nervous dealing with teams who will put balls into the box.

Coming up next, at Anfield, is Tony Pulis; a manager whose tactics often revolve around playing 11 brick walls with limbs.

Then, Crystal Palace, Alan Pardew, and Christian Benteke. The former Liverpool man was signed by Palace because of his prowess in the air; for every inch he was not suited to Klopp’s football, he is for Pardew’s, with direct wingers looking to supply him from out wide.

Watford are also a side founded on physicality, with Italian manager Walter Mazzarri already engineering a win over Manchester United this season.

There are some statistics to make the Kop wince a little bit more, too.

West Brom (43%) and Watford (46%) are both in the league’s bottom four in terms of possession – with Burnley, 2-0 victors over Liverpool in August, also among them.

All three teams sit in the league’s top five ‘long ball’ teams – judged by the average length of an attempted pass - with no team scoring more goals from corners than West Brom (4), who have seen 56% of their goals scored from set plays.

Palace are joint-highest with regards to scoring from free-kicks (3), and 7% of their overall passes come from out wide, a league-high.

Watford, meanwhile, are in the Premier League’s top five for winning headers.

Liverpool dealt with United’s aerial threat well on Monday. Amongst the hand-wringing over Mourinho’s tactics, the Reds’ stability at the back was ignored, a first clean sheet of the season – a by-product, perhaps, of Klopp having his back five available to him at Melwood throughout the international break.

Loris Karius remains nervous but can grow into the role; Joel Matip has already sealed bargain of the season, with James Milner the biggest surprise.

But Klopp will know set-pieces remain a problem, and one game is not proof enough. The next three will show just how well Liverpool deal with deep defences and tall adversaries.

Manchester United, arguably, set the template. The hope – and, indeed, expectation – is that none of Liverpool’s next three opponents have the personnel to follow that.

Don’t expect it to be easy, though. In some ways, breaking these sides down will prove to be as much of a challenge to Klopp as the first eight games of the campaign.

This next run of fixtures could prove to be the real indication of the Reds' ambitions this season.