Why Liverpool will take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park at 12:30

12/07/2023 Soccer

REVEALED: Why Liverpool will take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park at 12:30 on Saturday, despite Premier League agreement to avoid early kick-offs after midweek matches

  • Many Premier League ties have taken place at 8pm on Saturday this season due to a league agreement
  • Jurgen Klopp has often bemoaned the early kick-off for Liverpool
  • IAN LADYMAN: Liverpool are two players short for another great period – It’s All Kicking Off

Often this season we have seen BT Sport televise matches at the primetime slot of 8pm on a Saturday evening.

Last season saw the number of slots for a Premier League game to take place on a Saturday increase from three to four with matches now able to kick off 12:30pm, 3pm, 5:30pm and 8pm.

This was due to an agreement made by the league that meant clubs playing midweek at 8pm could not take part in the 12:30pm kick-off.

However, with TV picks often made ahead of time, it would be unlikely that a broadcaster would change their game, instead the kick-off time would be moved.

And as stated before we have seen that many times, even as recently as last Saturday when Newcastle beat Manchester United 1-0 at St James’ Park.

Crystal Palace find themselves having to host Liverpool in the Premier League’s early kick-off despite playing at 7:30pm on Wednesday

But this is not the case for Liverpool and Crystal Palace, who find themselves having to travel to Selhurst Park for a 12:30 kick-off on Saturday.

This is because the deal extends specifically to those who have competed in a European competition on the Wednesday.

So those who have played late on Wednesday in Premier League action are not afforded the same relief as the teams that are participating in the Champions League.

The decision to award Liverpool another early kick-off has seemingly angered manager Jurgen Klopp, as he labelled Amazon Prime presenter Marcus Buckland ‘completely ignorant’ after Buckland joked it was Klopp’s favourite kick-off time.

It is not the first time things have turned sour when the issue of being the first match of a weekend has arose. 

Klopp previously took aim at a reporter in a tense exchanged when questioned about his side’s poor record in the early match.

Jurgen Klopp clashed with an Amazon Prime presenter after he joked about the 12:30pm kick-off being the Liverpool manager’s favourite time to play at the weekend

When questioned about their form, the Liverpool boss said: ‘Are you serious with this question?

‘What do you mean what is the difference when you play 30 hours ago in Bolivia? What do you think is the reason, I don’t understand.

‘Is it something about the time or the lack of recovery in between. It’s not a problem if you have a normal week, we’ve always said that. The only problem is the lack of recovery time.’

While his comments on that occasion referenced his players returning from the international break, Klopp has often vented his frustration at the early kick-off on a Saturday.

And given their kick-off time on Saturday it would appear his feud with the schedule will continue for at least one more week.

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