It’s the dreaded Saturday lunchtime kick-off for Liverpool.
If Jurgen Klopp’s side are going to maintain the feelgood factor generated by the opening weeks of the season then they will need to bury their 12.30pm hoodoo when they face Wolves at Molineux.
Liverpool had six Premier League games in that slot last season and won none of them, taking three points out of a possible 18. And it was not as if the opponents were all drawn from the upper end of the table: only one finished the season in the top nine (Manchester City, who beat Liverpool 4-1). The other teams Liverpool faced were Fulham, Everton and Chelsea (all draws), while they were beaten by Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth.
They scored just three goals across those six matches despite attempting a total of 83 shots – a conversion rate of just 3.6 per cent. They created 13 big chances with an xG (expected goals) of 8.56.
Klopp has long since bemoaned being selected so often by TV broadcaster TNT Sports (previously BT Sport) for the 12.30pm slot, which is prime viewing time in Asia, and on Friday his sense of frustration was clear once again.
“We have four international breaks by March and for two of them we already have the 12.30 kick-off (when Premier League action resumes),” said Klopp, referring to the fact that Liverpool will host Everton at the same time straight after the October break.
“If I say a word about it then the world says, ‘He’s moaning again’. This is a joke. We had four players in South America who I haven’t even seen yet. In 24 hours we play (Wolves).
Darwin Nunez was one of several Liverpool players on international duty in South America (Rodrigo Buendia/AFP via Getty Images)
“But it’s like it is and we cannot change it. We will never change that, whoever we talk to. Now the TV channel has a different name but obviously it doesn’t change anything at all. They don’t give a… so why should I talk about that? We didn’t think about it.”
Does Klopp have a point? The trip to Wolves will be the 12th Saturday lunchtime kick-off Liverpool have had in the Premier League immediately following an international break during the German’s Anfield reign.
That’s double the number faced by any other top-flight club. Tottenham and Chelsea have had that scenario on six occasions, Manchester United five and Manchester City four.
Of course, Liverpool’s huge global fanbase means broadcasters are always going to gravitate towards showing their matches and it yields extra revenue, but that’s still some discrepancy.
“Playing at that time is not a problem if it’s a normal week, we’ve always said that. It’s easy to adapt. The only problem is the lack of recovery time,” insisted Klopp, who has reserved his complaints about 12.30pm Saturday fixtures for when Liverpool have either played on a Wednesday night or are returning to action after international games.
The South American quartet of Alisson (Brazil), Luis Diaz (Colombia), Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina) and Darwin Nunez (Uruguay) only reported back to Kirkby on Friday, just hours before the squad set off for the Midlands. Klopp had two sessions to prepare with the rest of his international contingent.
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In fact, Liverpool’s record in Saturday lunchtime matches compares quite favourably to their rivals.
Since Klopp took over in October 2015, they have had 35 12.30pm games (only Tottenham, with 36, have had more). With 16 wins, 12 draws and seven defeats, Liverpool have averaged 1.71 points per game. That figure was a more impressive 1.97 points per game prior to last season’s torrid run.
Over the same period, Manchester City have averaged 2.39 points per game – a significantly better record, unsurprisingly given their overall domination in this period – while Chelsea have taken 1.83pts. But Manchester United (1.68pts), Arsenal (1.64pts) and Tottenham (1.47pts) all fare worse.
It is when you compare Klopp’s record in 12.30pm kick-offs to his record at other kick-off times that his irritation is perhaps easier to explain.
When you compare the five kick-off slots in which they have played more than 20 Premier League games during the German’s reign (12.30pm, 3pm and 5.30pm on Saturdays, 4.30pm on Sundays, and 8pm in midweek), it is the early Saturday slot which comes out bottom.
When you compare Klopp’s record at 12.30pm to managerial rivals who have worked at similar-sized clubs, the most striking element is that the difference between his points-per-game return at 12.30pm and overall record (0.4pts per game) is by far the biggest.
The early starts aren’t loved by players as it affects normal sleep patterns and they find themselves eating chicken and pasta for their breakfast.
But for Klopp, it’s all about preparation time. “In the moment someone like you sits there and gives me this feeling, ‘So what exactly is the problem with 12.30?” he added. “Is it because it’s lunchtime or could it be the lack of time between the games and intensity of the travel? Make your own opinion about it this time without a source.”
However, you can’t just put Liverpool’s poor return from 12.30pm games last season down to not having sufficient time to recover from their previous exertions.
They had a full week to prepare for the trip to Fulham last August but produced an error-strewn display and had to come from behind twice to force a 2-2 draw.
September’s goalless stalemate at Goodison was after a frenetic Wednesday night win over Newcastle and it was a similar turnaround when they lost away to Nottingham Forest after beating West Ham.
But there were no excuses for the dour draw with Chelsea at Anfield in January. The same goes for the demoralising defeat to Bournemouth in March — six days after demolishing Manchester United 7-0.
Liverpool lost at Bournemouth last season in a game that kicked off at 12:30pm (Luke Walker/Getty Images)
The last time Liverpool played at 12.30pm it was straight after an international break when they were comprehensively beaten 4-1 by City at the Etihad in April. Since then, they have gone 15 league games unbeaten, the longest stretch in the Premier League.
They are resurgent and seem to possess far more resilience than the fading force of 2022-23 which stumbled from one setback to another, especially on their travels.
Now they need to prove it.
(Top photo: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP via Getty Images)
