Paul Heckingbottom relishing Sheffield United’s Liverpool clash amid Premier League pledge

When notification of Sheffield United’s fixture list for the 2023/24 Premier League season landed in Paul Heckingbottom’s inbox last week, there may have been one game he subconsciously scanned for amongst all the rest.

The start is important. So, too, the run-in, as United’s coaching staff start to mentally plot a course through a campaign that will see them go up against some of the world’s best. Even being at home on Boxing Day, considering the logistics of training and travel around Christmas, will have been welcomed.

But next season will see boss Heckingbottom tick off another milestone in a footballing career that began as a trainee at Manchester United in the early 1990s - a first trip to Anfield, when the Blades face Jurgen Klopp’s side on April 3.

“I’m looking forward to all of them,” the Blades boss insisted. “But for me, from a personal point of view - and you probably can’t believe it - I've still never been to Anfield. As a player, or coach, or to watch a game.

“I think that's the only stadium in the country left, I think, so that'll be one for me. But just to be back involved is great. This club deserves to be here. It's been a hard fight, a real hard fight, to get back, and we're determined to enjoy it.”

“When the fixtures come out,” Heckingbottom added, “it's another big marker and something for everyone to get excited about.”

United kick off their new campaign at home to Crystal Palace and are also at Bramall Lane for the final game of the season, against Tottenham Hotspur. Luton Town visit South Yorkshire on Boxing Day.