Liverpool’s meeting with Chelsea on Sunday could be postponed in light of an expected police shortage in response to the placement of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral (‘and events surrounding it’) on the following Monday.
It would mean yet another fixture, along with the previously shifted Wolves clash, would take place instead after the World Cup in Qatar, congesting the schedule.
A solution that would allow the fixture to be played out on the date in question has already been discussed, as Mike Keegan writes for the Daily Mail: “A raft of options are being considered. It is thought that switching games has already been discussed.
“However, Everton are at home on the same day Chelsea would instead head to Anfield.”
The Merseysiders currently find themselves in seventh place in the Premier League table – remarkably only six points away from leaders Arsenal despite a somewhat poor start to the 2022/23 campaign.
Whilst we can certainly respect the need to guarantee fan safety at an English top-flight game, it would be likewise neglectful to not take into account the potential difficulties around congesting the fixture schedule after the World Cup.
If it’s possible to switch Chelsea’s hosting of us at Stamford Bridge with our later home tie, it would make sense in order to avoid any complications down the line.
Of course, Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff may very well be quietly hoping to see the meeting with the Blues suffer a similar fate to the Wolves clash in order to get more work done on the training ground and welcome back injured stars after the devastating 4-1 defeat in Naples.
Certainly more so, one might imagine, after Andy Robertson joined the club’s long injury list.