Liverpool will play two games within 24 hours of each other.
The Reds are set to play their Carabao Cup quarter final tie against Aston Villa on 17th December.
The European champions also have to travel to Qatar to compete in the semi final of the Club World Cup.
Club Statement
Liverpool released a statement on their site explaining that they will use two playing squads:
“As a result, we will be utilising two playing squads simultaneously, with one squad participating in the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar and another in the Carabao Cup.
“The club would like to take this opportunity to underline that while this is not an ideal scenario, it is an outcome which was arrived at with the best interests of the competition, our fellow clubs and ourselves as the sole motivating factor.
“We would like to thank the EFL for their efforts to accommodate us and we can confirm alternative dates were discussed, but ultimately none were considered suitable without compromising the scheduling of the competition itself or placing an undue strain on our playing staff.”
Klopp’s Anger
Jurgen Klopp showed his anger towards the scheduling:
“If they don’t find a place for us, an appropriate place, not 3am on Christmas Day, then we don’t play 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.
“Hopefully it starts at one point, hopefully is starts now.
“We will not be the victim of this problem. We played and we wanted to win.
“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 will play it. I cannot change that.”
It will be interesting to see who plays in what squad when the day comes.
(Pic by Mehdi Bolourian under Creative Commons Licence)
