Liverpool’s crazy festive schedule in detail as Jurgen Klopp threatens to boycott Carabao Cup quarter-finals over fixture pile-up
Liverpool will face a battle to maintain their hold at the top of the Premier League table as they begin to enter a crazy period of festive fixtures.
Jurgen Klopp threatened to boycott the Carabao Cup quarter-finals over their insane fixture pile-up after watching a young Reds side beat Arsenal on penalties in a ten-goal thriller that had everything.
The manager was forced to field a young and inexperienced team for Wednesday’s clash at Anfield, with four teenagers named in the starting XI – their youngest in any competition since January 2017, with an average age of 23 years and 122 days.
And it appears the likes of 16-year-old Harvey Elliott, 17-year-old Sepp van den Berg, 18-year-olds Neco Williams and Curtis Jones and 19-year-old Rhian Brewster may be seeing more game time in the coming months as Liverpool prepare for their manic fixture pile-up.
The Reds will play 13 matches in just less than two months – working out at a game EVERY THREE OR FOUR DAYS for seven weeks straight.
The Carabao Cup quarter-finals are due to be played the week commencing 16 December, with the Reds drawn against Aston Villa on Thursday morning.
Carabao Cup quarter-final draw: Manchester United vs Colchester, Oxford land Man City and Aston Villa to host Liverpool
But Klopp is taking a squad on a 7,000-mile round trip to Qatar to play in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup on 18 December, so they will have to find some other time to play that match. The problem is, when?
Liverpool were also due to play West Ham on 20 December in the Premier League, but that game has been postponed and is yet to be rearranged.
It all means they currently have six midweek fixtures in a row pencilled in between November 27 and January 2, while also playing over seven consecutive weekends.
And following the shoot-out win over Arsenal, Klopp threatened to pull Liverpool out of of the Carabao Cup if the EFL do not accommodate their packed fixture schedule.
“FIFA tells us we have to go to the Club World Cup, the Premier League tell us we have to play in the Carabao Cup so we try to play it, but if we don’t find time it will not happen in our winter break or whatever they give us, because we need that,” said the German.
“It shows the problem we have in the Premier League that no one cares about things like this, so that’s how it is.
“If they [the EFL] don’t find a place for us, an appropriate place, not 3pm on Christmas Day or something, then we don’t play.
“They have to make it. You have to think about these things – if you have a fixture list, where one team cannot be part of all the games, then you have to think about it.
“We will not be the victim of this problem. If they don’t find a proper date for us, then we cannot play the next round and whoever is our opponent will go through – or Arsenal play them.”
Liverpool's fixture pile-up
November 23: Crystal Palace (A – Premier League)
November 27: Napoli (H – Champions League)
November 30: Brighton (H – Premier League)
December 4: Everton (H – Premier League)
December 7: Bournemouth (A – Premier League)
December 10: RB Salzburg (A – Champions League)
December 14: Watford (H – Premier League)
w/c December 16: Aston Villa (A – Carabao Cup)
December 18: Club World Cup
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December 21: Club World Cup
December 26: Leicester (A – Premier League)
December 29: Wolves (H – Premier League)
January 2: Sheffield United (H – Premier League)
January 3-6: FA Cup Third Round
It’s a total nightmare for the Merseyside club, but Klopp at least has a fairly big squad to call upon to keep his key XI well rested.
The Reds are currently six points clear at the top of the Premier League table and fans are desperate to end their long wait for the title.
A bonus for Klopp is the supporters won’t need to be appeased this season by bringing home a cup, having been crowned six-time European Champions last term, so the coach could just save his main starting XI for the league fixtures and fill out his teams in the Champions League and Club World Cup with squad players.
Dominic King on Liverpool's incredible fixture pile-up
And the Liverpool boss insisted following the Arsenal clash that he has faith in all of his players to deliver.
When asked about his young selection and accusations he was not taking the cup seriously, Klopp told Sky Sports after the game: “It’s not true.
“We cannot do it differently, we had to make a lot of changes, but we made them because we trust the boys. How they played tonight, I loved it, really.
“In the end, it was about encouragement to get them to keep going. That was the job to do and they did, with the team they had tonight having 60, 65 per cent possession is crazy.
“The mistakes we made was because we were too open, but that’s how it is. We want to be fluent, we are not used to playing with each other and that can happen.
“What I wished for the boys that they can have a game to remember, and that’s what happened.”