With the re-scheduling of fixtures due to the death of Her Majesty the Queen, it could see Liverpool play twice a week for the next two months.
It could spell big trouble for Jurgen Klopp’s squad which is already littered with injury-prone players.
Last season saw them play every single game available to them across four competitions and a quick turnaround from summer has already caused fitness issues.
Now the potential fixture list is showing at least two games a week until the football world breaks up for the World Cup in Qatar in November and that should be big worry for the Reds.
Liverpool are playing twice a week, every week from now up until the World Cup in November.
After that, progress in the League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League would mean playing twice a week almost every week too.
Fixtures rescheduled and interrupted for this is a farce.
— Anfield Edition (@AnfieldEdition) September 9, 2022
Fixture re-scheduling…what’s happening?
With the latest news dictating that there will be no fixtures this weekend, that means a re-scheduling will have to take place.
Furthermore, according to Telefootball, a shortage of police officers available due to The Queen’s funeral the next day means Liverpool’s game against Chelsea next weekend is in doubt.
It would mean the Premier League would be postponed for at least 10 days, meaning the next set of games wouldn’t be until the start of October.
This makes an already tight schedule, because of the World Cup, even tighter given the Champions League group stages have begun and so will the Carabao Cup too.
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The main issue is that Liverpool are in a really bad run of form and games coming thick and fast could go one of either two ways.
One, their out-of-sorts team will continue to struggle to fix their issues across the pitch resulting in more poor results leaving them in a precarious position in the league and in other cups.
Or the other option – it gives them a chance to just power through any bad games by having another one day later to respond in a positive way.
At least for now, their schedule will cease during this time of mourning, allowing players to build fitness and recover from injuries. In addition, Klopp will get some time to work with the squad and look to find a solution to their current issues.
But what about injuries and fitness levels?
However, you have to think about what these regular games will do to their squad. They’ve already had a spell where up to 10 players were out injured and now they could be asked to rotate and play a lot of regular minutes. The international break isn’t far away either, with a lot of their squad expected to report for international duty – another potential issue for the squad.
The likes of 36-year-old James Milner as well as injury-prone players such as Thiago, Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate will be surely at risk. Never mind the fact that the only replacement for Fabinho is 17-year-old Stefan Bajcetic.
Every club will feel the pinch, but Liverpool’s squad compared to Chelsea and Manchester City pales in comparison in terms of the number of injury-prone players and the quality of the options off the bench. Those sides will be able to rotate and manage the situation better than Liverpool can.
I believe it’s a big worry going forward. The schedule was already full to brim with games across multiple competitions, but with the postponement of games, it could mean Liverpool could be in a precarious situation when the football world breaks up for the World Cup in over two months’ time.
