Two Games in 24 Hours: How Will Liverpool Do It?

Liverpool are currently eight points ahead at the summit of the English Premier League table.

Liverpool celebrates after an Andrew Robertson goal in the Champions League.

(Photo: AP)

Jurgen Klopp and his Reds have been tearing through England and Europe. Liverpool is undefeated in the Premier League and are the current holders of the UEFA Champions League. But that is where the problem lies.

Liverpool qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup and will be playing their first match in the competition in Doha on 18 December. This match will be less than 24 hours from their Carabao Cup against Aston Villa at Villa Park in the English midlands.

Liverpool will now be sending one squad of players to Qatar and leaving a second squad behind to face Villa. These are extreme and exceptional circumstances, but Klopp is keen to fight the ongoing problem that is fixture congestion. Klopp told BBC Sport.

Jurgen Klopp won FIFA’s The Best Coach for 2019 after leading Liverpool to their sixth Champions League title. (Photo: AP)

“We have to find solutions. The problems are obvious. Do we want to be in trouble with FIFA or the EFL? Probably not and we respect the competitions.”

Jurgen Klopp

Klopp has also repeatedly criticised the two legged system of the Carabao Cup, and claims that Liverpool are committed to the cup regardless.

“The Carabao Cup makes it sound like we don't want to play in it. That is not true, but I don't understand two games in the semi-final. I don't like that in a busy period of the season.” added Klopp

From 23 November to 2 January, Liverpool face a testing period of 12 games in 37 days in four competitions - the Premier League, Champions League, EFL Cup and Club World Cup - with an FA Cup third-round tie still to be determined in the first week of 2020.

As The Reds will be forced to field two different lineups in the span of these two days, Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has called for a players’ union to combat such fixture congestion.

Alisson believes that all the game’s stars should unite against such schedules, like what happens in American sports.

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson has had lingering injury issues this season.(Photo: AP)

“It’s always left in the background. I don’t think the players are as well organised as, for example, the NBA where the players unite.”

Alisson Becker, Liverpool

“Only a single, aggressive federation can succeed in making changes. I think we have to be more united. Us players have to unite. It’s ridiculous for something like this to happen,” Becker added.

Liverpool have 11 wins from their 12 games in the Premier League. They have only dropped two points, which happened in a 1-1 draw against Manchester United.

Currently, Liverpool have 34 registered first team players. This mean’s that all 34 players will have to be split into two 17 man matchday squads. Liverpool, often considered one of the deeper teams in the Premier League, will be hard pressed to find a solution.

The FIFA Club World Cup is bound to be moved to the summer ‘off-season’ in 2021. This would ease the congestion for teams in the future.

Whether Liverpool will split their stars like Sadio Mane, Mohammed Salah and Virgil van Dijk across the competitions or whether they will all stay in England keeping future fixtures in mind is unknown.