Liverpool act to avoid repeat of September scenario as Reds quartet battle the clock to face City

22.11.2023 14:24

Empire of The Kop

Liverpool have taken action to ensure that an undesirable situation which arose in September isn’t repeated ahead of the top-of-the-table Premier League clash against Manchester City on Saturday lunchtime. Football Insider reported that the Reds have chartered a private plane to ensure that their four South American senior players are back in England in ample […]

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Football Insider reported that the Reds have chartered a private plane to ensure that their four South American senior players are back in England in ample time for the weekend’s crunch showdown.

It’s hoped that Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz, Alisson Becker and Darwin Nunez will all be back on Merseyside early enough to partake in training on Thursday, with the quartet having all played on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean late on Tuesday night (and into Wednesday morning) due to the time zone difference.

Much to the understandable chagrin of Jurgen Klopp, this is the third time already this season that Liverpool have been given the Saturday 12:30 slot immediately after an international break.

When it happed in September, the Reds boss spoke of not seeing his South American players until less than 24 hours before the 3-1 win away to Wolves, describing the scheduling as a ‘joke’ (Liverpool Echo).

Man City’s involvement in the Champions League next Tuesday meant that the weekend’s game had to be played on Saturday, and having inevitably been chosen for live TV coverage, it was brought forward to the lunchtime slot at the request of key stakeholders such as police (The Athletic).

Julian Alvarez is the only player in Pep Guardiola’s squad to face a transatlantic journey in the lead-up to the fixture, so Liverpool are affected to a much greater degree by the controversial kick-off time.

Alisson played for all 180 minutes of Brazil’s two matches over the past week, while Diaz (171 minutes), Nunez (163 minutes) and Mac Allister (135 minutes) also featured abundantly for their countries.

There’s a strong chance that all except the goalkeeper are named on the bench on Saturday if they’re still showing fatigue from the excessive travelling, although Klopp will be gunning to name his strongest possible XI for the visit to the Etihad Stadium.

It’s not the most ideal scenario, but at least Liverpool have acted to ensure that there isn’t a repeat of what happened before the Wolves game when the manager barely saw his South American quarter beforehand.

Thank goodness there isn’t another full international window until late March. We beg that our match against Brighton straight after it isn’t given the Saturday 12:30 treatment.

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