Liverpool have shown impressive form this season despite rumors and injuries, but this time they will be facing two rivals that could end their unbeaten run: fatigue and lack of common sense.
The Reds are set to play the first match of the weekend against Wolverhampton, and while that may not be complicated to most, it has sparked Jurgen Klopp's fury since it will force his team to field players that were recently on international break just hours after arriving into the U.K.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Klopp complained about this fact by highlighting this is not the first time they have faced such a scenario.
"If I say a word about it then the world says, 'He's moaning again'. It is a joke. We had four players in South America who I haven't even seen yet. In 24 hours we play Wolves. It's not a problem if you have a normal week, we've always said that - It's easy to adapt, the only problem is lack of recovery time," Klopp said.
Then, the coach dropped a bomb against the channel airing their game, since they have already planned ahead for this season with two more games such as the one on Saturday in similar circumstances the team will have to deal with.
"We have four international breaks by March and for two of them we already have the 12.30 kick-off (immediately afterwards). But we cannot change it. We will never change that, whoever we talk to. Now the TV channel has a different name, but obviously it doesn't change anything at all. They don't give a… so why should I talk about that? We didn't think about it," the coach added.
Liverpool's "luck" on this issue is not something to be flattered, as the Reds have been forced to play 12 early kickoff games coming from an international break since he joined the team. For those who want to compare, current defending champions Manchester City have only had an early kickoff game in four of those weekends.
Klopp's men had a rough start, dropping points against Chelsea on week 1. Nevertheless, the Reds have earned three wins in a row to climb to third in the Premier League standings, two points behind Manchester City and level with West Ham, Arsenal, and Tottenham.
Only time will tell if Saturday's early match has a negative effect on Liverpool's unbeaten run, but it seems that Klopp has a point when it comes to scheduling conflicts after an international break.
