“How can you put a game like this on Saturday at 12.30pm? Honestly, the people making the decisions, they cannot feel football. It is just not possible.”
Jürgen Klopp made his feelings clear ahead of Liverpool facing Manchester City in the early Saturday kick-off slot earlier this season and it wasn’t the first time. “If you play in the afternoon obviously the boys sleep longer and you can ask whoever you want, sleep is a big part in recovery,” he had explained back in 2020.
Despite the German’s protestations, Liverpool has played more often than anyone else in the early slot this season. And that could happen again during April after the latest round of fixture changes were announced.
As it stands, Liverpool is set to play Fulham (Sunday 21st), Everton (Wednesday 24th) and then West Ham United (Saturday 27th) inside six days. All three of those matches are away from home and the West Ham game is set for the early Saturday slot, just three days after the midweek visit to Goodison Park.
It was agreed for this season that teams playing on a Wednesday in the Champions League could not be selected for the early Saturday kick-off but that rule doesn’t apply to midweek commitments in the Premier League. That is why, in this case, Liverpool could be made to suffer again.
The only way that this will change is if Arsenal beats Bayern Munich and qualifies for the Champions League semi-finals. In that case, Arsenal would need to play on Saturday rather than Sunday because they would be in European action on the following Tuesday.
The Gunners are set to face Spurs in the North London Derby that weekend. If Arsenal progresses in the Champions League, Tottenham vs Arsenal would swap places with the Liverpool game against West Ham, with the latter one moving to Sunday.
How each side gets on in Europe could have a direct impact on the title race in the league, but also an indirect one. Manchester City hosts Arsenal next weekend, just after Liverpool plays Brighton at Anfield.
