Arne Slot jokingly referred to Jurgen Klopp’s gripes with 12:30pm kick-offs after the Premier League fixture release.
The Dutchman’s Liverpool side will take on newly-promoted Ipswich Town on August 17 at the unpopular time in question.
The 45-year-old was keen to see the positives, however, pointing out that the timing was acceptable in light of it not coming after a European clash.
“And they’ve told me it’s going to be 12.30… from what I know, Jürgen [Klopp] complained a lot about this so probably they thought, with Jürgen being out let’s put them at 12.30 again!” Slot told liverpoolfc.com.
“No, it’s different to a normal 12.30 because it’s not after a game in Europe. Looking forward to it. A promoted team so it’s going to be special for them as well.
“I think every team might prefer a home game to start with, but we’re going to face Ipswich and we are looking forward to that.”
The Merseysiders return to Champions League football for 2024/25 after Klopp guided the side to a third-place finish last term.
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READ MORE: Arne Slot now lifts lid on why he rejected Premier League interest in 2023
Arne Slot must pick up Klopp’s banner
It’s imperative, in our view, that Slot continues to fight the good fight on behalf of his Liverpool squad and footballers across the Premier League.
With a change to the Champions League format and organisers increasingly financially motivated to bolster international schedules, players are increasingly at risk of unmanageable levels of fatigue.
We’re delighted, of course, to see our new head coach adopting such a positive mentality for the job at hand.
However, we should all be seriously concerned if no one intends to fill the void left by Klopp in championing player welfare.
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