Jurgen Klopp has blasted the Premier League over their fixture scheduling for teams in the Champions League and says the authorities ‘aren’t bothered’ about quick turnarounds in games.
Klopp has moved to criticise the scheduling of Manchester City’s clash against West Ham last weekend, with the club forced to play in Saturday’s lunchtime fixture at the London Stadium despite playing against Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Speaking after Liverpool’s 2-0 Champions League victory over FC Midtjylland on Tuesday night, the German has expressed his sympathy towards the Reds’ title rivals despite the competition between the two sides, suggesting the Premier League do not care for player welfare with their scheduling of fixtures for sides in continental competition.
“I think everybody would agree that if you play Tuesday night, you can play the Saturday 12:30pm game, but somehow the Premier League never realises that,” Klopp told his post-match press conference.
“They always put in the Wednesday night game, like last Saturday, Man City had to play this game – I can’t believe it. We are obviously not friends, we play against each other and fight against each other, but how is that possible?
“Maybe I’m too dumb. Richard Masters and all the others have all said it before; ‘come on, that’s how it is.
“They just aren’t bothered, I don’t understand why.”
Liverpool return to Premier League action this weekend with a clash against West Ham at Anfield on Saturday evening, with the club level on points with league leaders Everton at the summit.
Klopp’s options at centre-back remain a concern with Fabinho having picked up a hamstring injury in their midweek victory over Midtjylland, the midfielder having been utilised in a defensive role to cover the absences of the injured Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip.
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