Jurgen Klopp will be furious as Liverpool face another 12:30 kick-off
Liverpool face another early kick-off after an international break in a move that would leave Jurgen Klopp furious. The Reds have already faced many this season.
Liverpool have 'enjoyed' a lot of early kick-offs this season - more than any other side. In fact, they're already approaching the limit of six.
Notably, the Reds have even had an early kick-off that didn't count towards that limit. The Manchester City fixture, originally scheduled for 17:30, was moved to 12:30 at a police request and therefore won't be one of the six.
Jurgen Klopp was particularly infuriated by that one, given it came after an international break. The Liverpool boss has a particular problem with that, believing it's ridiculous to shorten the recovery time for players by scheduling a game that early.
“How can you put a game like this on Saturday at 12.30pm?" he said, per the Guardian. "Honestly, the people making these decisions, they cannot feel football, it is just not possible. And it is the moment where the world pays the most to see a football game.
“These two teams could have, all together, about 30 international players. They all come back on the same plane by the way, all the South American players. They all fly back together, we put them on the plane from Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.
"One game, one plane, they all come back. We just have to make sure we are ready for this game.”
Klopp has actually seen quite an incredible number of early kick-offs after an international break, including three already this season. Per the Liverpool Echo, he's overseen 14 12:30pm kick-offs post-break out of a possible 31 - the most in the Premier League over that spell and over twice that of the next-highest team.
And that may soon be 15 of a possible 32. The fixture list post-March international break is currently being sorted, with TV companies choosing their games. TNT Sports, who will pick the first 12:30 kick-off after that break, will have the second choice of matches that weekend.
Sky Sports will likely choose Manchester City vs Arsenal for their no.1 pick. The next 'biggest' game - and the likely pick for TNT - is Liverpool vs Brighton.
Putting Liverpool back in that situation would almost certainly infuriate Klopp, especially after the anger around the City game. But it's increasingly looking like it will be the case.