Both Liverpool and Manchester City squad have players from South America including Julian Alvarez, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Alexis Mac Allister, who were all part of the World Cup qualifier matches, just 2 days ago.
These players have been fled back for an early kick-off match in the Premiere League, without much needed rest.
This has upset Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp and he has been very vocal against the scheduling of matches by the broadcaster, Sky Sports.
This is the third straight early match for Liverpool after an international break. Klopp feels this as an unfair schedule when they compare it to other teams.
This match between Liverpool and Manchester City will probably be one of the most important matches of the season as it could change the shape of the title race.
Klopp was interviewed by Vinny O’ Connor of Sky Sports at the training facility where Klopp jokingly put a headlock on O’Connor and gave a soft punch to the guy saying, “Thank you for the 12:30”.
While it’s still a joke, everybody knows Klopp is frustrated and this was him making a joke at its expense. People on X have seen it and joked that the League would see this and punish Klopp or fine him or Liverpool.
This is a running gag on Twitter from Liverpool fans that the League is unfair to them, while other teams’ fans claim that Liverpool gets their way in matches.
Reporter Vinny O’Connor responded later that his interaction with Klopp was playful but also joked that there was a moment that would get Klopp a red card.
The time schedule for the match was a result of political tensions in the UK amidst the rising tension in the middle East. It was an official police decision to have the match at 12:30pm instead of 5:30pm.