Manchester City’s Premier League clash with rivals Liverpool has been changed to the early kick-off slot of 12:30 on Saturday, November 25 on the advice of a local safety advisory group.
The two Premier League against were originally pencilled down to be kicking off at 5:30pm on the same day with Sky Sports showing the game in their Saturday evening slot but according to the Daily Mail, the time has been changed due to concerns over fan trouble.
The local safety advisory group – which includes the police – have not given permission for the fixture to take place in the early evening following a number of issues at previous matches between the pair.
This change will also have a knock-on effect on Arsenal’s trip to Brentford as that fixture will now be moved to the 5:30pm slot that Man City against Liverpool was originally meant to take place in.
This is the third time this season Liverpool have been in that early Saturday slot immediately after an international break and it will infuriate Jurgen Klopp who has spoken about the issue before.
This slot makes it very hard for the Reds to play their South American stars due to the travelling they have to do the week of the match and players such as Luis Diaz, Alexis Mac Allister and Darwin Nunez are key for the Merseyside club.
It wouldn’t be a problem if it was a once-off, but it seems that Liverpool are often in this time slot after an international period.
In fact, this match will be the 14th occasion immediately after an international break since Klopp took over that Liverpool play at 12:30pm – Tottenham are next with six.
