Football
Glenn Price, Liverpool correspondent 6y

Jurgen Klopp hits back at Antonio Conte's fixture scheduling complaint

Jurgen Klopp has dismissed Antonio Conte's complaints about the scheduling of Chelsea's trip to Liverpool on Saturday following European commitments.

Liverpool have had an extra day to recover for the game at Anfield after Tuesday's draw with Sevilla, while Chelsea returned home from Azerbaijan at 5 a.m. on Thursday following their 4-0 win over Qarabag.

Klopp, however, has reminded his counterpart that the schedule of the festive fixtures last season benefited Chelsea en route to them winning the Premier League, with Liverpool required to play Manchester City and Sunderland with just 44 hours between the two games over the New Year.

"I really get what Antonio is talking about, I heard about it, but maybe he forgot that they had the best Christmas schedule last year," Klopp said.

"Everyone played every two days and they had about 12 days to play three games. They have the same situation this year and I don't know how the Premier League will explain this. But it will not have influence on this game. Maybe on the next one, that is possible.

"They are already back, they flew back to London and they have two days to recover and that is a normal situation. Three days [between games] is never a problem, two days is a big problem but obviously nobody wants to hear that."

Conte has called on fixture schedulers to give more "respect" to those English clubs playing the Champions League to help them succeed in Europe's premier club competition.

^ Back to Top ^