With such a mammoth clash the biggest in English football in recent years, Klopp has already made his displeasure known at Liverpool’s trip to the Etihad being a 12.30pm kick-off after an international break.
Now they are all gone and we can train once before Man City,” the German told reporters after last weekend’s win over Brentford. “Okay, no-one can say at the moment but how can you put a game like this on Saturday at 12.30pm?
Honestly, the people making the decisions, they cannot feel football, it is just not possible. And if that is the moment where the world pays the most to see a football game then nobody has to tell us. I don’t know if that is the case, I really don’t.
“There could have been a moment when you have these two teams who have, all together, about 30 international players. They all come back on the same plane by the way, all the South American players.
“They all fly back (together), we put them on the plane from Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia. One game, one plane, they all come back. But the start of the season is the start of the season, we just have to make sure we are ready for this game.”
The Reds will have played at 12.30pm on the Saturday after all four in-season international breaks in 2023, having also lost 4-1 to Man City at the Etihad on their return to domestic action back in April. Meanwhile, since Klopp took over at Anfield in October 2015, his side have been handed the post-international Saturday lunchtime kick-off on 14 different occasions. The next closest side is Tottenham Hotspur with six.
But that isn’t the only scheduling Klopp should take issue with ahead of his side’s trip to Man City.
Guardiola has seen 15 of his senior players report for international duty this month, while Klopp has waved off 16 players (18 if you wish to include Luke Chambers and Calum Scanlon with England Under-20s and Under-18s respectively).
From City’s internationals, only Josko Gvardiol (Croatia), Manuel Akanji (Switzerland), and Julian Alvarez (Argentina) are in action on the last FIFA-sanctioned date – Tuesday 21 November (or Wednesday 22 November with regards to the time-difference in South America). With Erling Haaland already returning early because of injury, all 11 of their other internationals are free to report back after Sunday 19 November or Monday 20 November, starting recovery before turning attention towards facing Klopp’s men.
In contrast, 10 of Liverpool’s 16 internationals (11 of 18) are due to play on the last possible dates before returning to Anfield. As well as their European contingent, this includes Wataru Endo playing for Japan against Syria in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday 21 November, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz representing Uruguay and Colombia respectively in games that conclude in the early hours of Wednesday 22 November back in the UK.
Meanwhile, Alisson Becker and Alexis Mac Allister play even later as Brazil host Argentina in a game which doesn’t even kick off until the early hours of Wednesday 22 November back in the UK.
Clearly a greater number of Liverpool’s squad, and their South American contingent especially, have been stung by the international calendar when it comes to recovery and preparation time ahead of travelling to Man City. The lesser travel time and additional recovery and preparation time does make a difference.
Elsewhere, Kopites could be forgiven for donning raised eyebrows and furrowed brows at the number of Man City players who have recently withdrawn from international duty because of apparent injury.
While the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, and Nathan Ake were left out of their respective international squads because of pre-existing issues, Ederson, Mateo Kovacic, and Matheus Nunes all pulled out of the Brazil, Croatia, and Portugal squads before the start of the break.
As previously mentioned, Haaland has also withdrawn from the Norway squad after aggravating an ankle injury against the Faroe Islands, while Rodri missed Spain’s win over Cyprus because of reported ‘discomfort’.
De Bruyne is not expected to return to action for at least another month, but those of a Liverpool persuasion will understandably be watching suspiciously to see how many of the remaining aforementioned septet will miraculously recover and be declared fit to face them in one week’s time.
The Reds have injuries too, of course, with Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate joining Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch, Conor Bradley, Andy Robertson, Thiago Alcantara, and Stefan Bajcetic on Klopp’s list of absentees heading into the break. The latter trio at least are already confirmed to remain long-term absentees, with it unclear exactly when the former quintet will make their own returns.
Klopp will have everything crossed that none of his internationals suffer any injuries themselves and add to that list of absentees ahead of facing Man City next weekend. But with a number of Guardiola’s squad succumbing to timely injury or concluding duty earlier than their Liverpool counterparts, it’s clear the Reds are at a disadvantage and have been handed an additional adversity to overcome once their attention turns back to preparing for their trip to the Etihad.
