Liverpool are no strangers to a 12.30pm kickoff, and while Jurgen Klopp did not hide his grievances, Arne Slot currently has a different outlook on the early start.
Despite playing in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, just 62 hours after that game finished Liverpool will be kicking off at Selhurst Park in the Premier League.
It is the Reds’ second Saturday lunchtime start this season and yet another away from home. Since 2017/18, they have played 36 times at 12.30pm, and the majority have been away from Anfield.
Broadcasters, in this case TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport), decide this and it was long an issue for Klopp when the turnaround between games was so tight.
With Premier League rules only prohibiting European teams from being selected in the 12.30pm slot when they have played away from home in midweek, Slot was asked about Saturday’s kickoff in his press conference.
“In general, the league where I’m coming from in Holland, there they are more aware and try to help the teams that play in Europe more than it happens over here,” Slot started.
“But to be fair to the English FA, our schedule is so tight that it is so, so difficult.
“I think it is also something that has to do with the people sitting in front of me (points to broadcasters), for the television stations – I have the feeling I do an interview every day.
“That is why we play at 12.30 because they can pick which team they want to have, and then nine out of 10 times Liverpool is included.
“I don’t think it has so much to do with the 12.30 kickoffs, for me, it is that every away game is difficult.”
Slot, rightly, pointed out that the Reds struggled on the road last season – 14 of 28 ended without a win – and, really, he cannot afford to buy into the lunchtime struggles.
Instead, he has identified a need to be resilient away from home, and he has managed that so far as Slot could become the first Reds boss in history to win his first five away games in all competitions at Palace.
He continued: “I showed them last week that 10 out of 18 away games last season didn’t lead to a win. You can then argue if it is 12.30 or is it just difficult to play an away game.
“We can come up with Newcastle, Forest, and there were two others where there were last-second winners, so that shows you how difficult it is to win an away game, especially for us, in this league.
“Because we play so many times then at 12.30, people talk about 12.30. I think we have to talk about an away game because that is difficult.
“If 12.30 was a difficult time to perform, then I’m a really stupid manager because we train every day at 12 o’clock!
“I don’t see the idea behind it being that difficult performing at that time.”
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