Jürgen Klopp Upset Over Manchester City Fixture Scheduling Decision

Last week, Manchester City were given the shortest possible turnaround following their Wednesday Champions League tie with Porto when they kicked off the weekend’s Premier League action against West Ham.

For Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, City may be rivals on the pitch—and City dropping two points to West Ham certainly won’t have hurt his own side’s chances—but it’s something he believes shouldn’t happen.

“I think everybody would agree that if you play Tuesday night, you can play the Saturday 12:30pm game, but the Premier League never realises that,” Klopp noted “They always put in the Wednesday night game.

“Last Saturday, Man City had to play this game. We are obviously not friends, we play against each other and fight against each other, but how is that possible? They just aren’t bothered, I don’t understand why.”

Klopp has regularly complained in the past that, compared to the other big leagues, the Premier League appears to have no interest in making the schedule work for its top sides that are engaged in European action.

It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that in the midst of the most congested season ever he would again take issue with scheduling choices that seem designed to punish its top sides—even if those sides are rivals.

As things stand, though, it’s difficult to see those in charge changing anything, with fixture congestion and scheduling a point of contention for years and the league consistent in its disinterest to complaints.