Liverpool given new date for September fixture as Reds affected by rescheduling domino effect

Liverpool have had one of their September fixtures rearranged with just over two weeks’ notice, as part of a domino effect of scheduling changes.

The draw for the third round of the Carabao Cup handed the Reds a home tie against Tottenham Hotspur, which was originally pencilled in for Wednesday 16 September with an 8pm kick-off.

Andoni Iraola’s side also discovered their fixture schedule for the league phase of the Champions League at the weekend, with that campaign beginning against Atletico Madrid at Anfield on 9 September.

That’s the same night that Everton had been due to host Wolves in their Carabao Cup third round tie, but with logistical difficulties preventing the two Merseyside clubs from having simultaneous home fixtures, UEFA’s scheduling has forced the EFL to make rearrangements for its own competition.

Liverpool v Spurs moved to a new date

The Toffees’ cup tie has now been moved to the following Wednesday (16 September), with Liverpool’s match against Spurs duly being brought forward by 24 hours to instead be staged on Tuesday 15th with an 8pm kick-off, as confirmed today via liverpoolfc.com.

The EFL has openly criticised the governing body of European football over the scheduling conflict, condemning their ‘unwillingness to co-operate’ despite the former making ‘a number of changes to accommodate the expansion of UEFA club competitions – a decision which was made without adequate consultation with domestic leagues’ (Daily Mail).

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Not ideal for Liverpool or fans of the clubs affected

The domino effect of those various fixture changes has left Liverpool with an even tighter turnaround between fixtures in the first half of September, with the Reds now playing three times in the space of seven days rather than eight (though at least each of those games is at Anfield).

To make it all the more frustrating, Atletico have their LaLiga match on Saturday of next weekend (ours is on Friday), so there’s no reason why UEFA couldn’t have fixed it for the Tuesday night of Champions League matchday 1 (8th September) rather than the Wednesday.

That would’ve prevented the Carabao Cup games from having to be rescheduled, thus sparing fans of the clubs involved (especially the away teams) the inconvenience of changing their plans at short notice, and also allowed Liverpool a nice even split of four days between all five of their games in September.

Alas, Iraola’s team will have to play the hand they’ve been dealt, and the tight turnaround will probably see the head coach make several changes in personnel for the Spurs game, with that coming in the competition which is likely to be regarded with the lowest priority for LFC at this stage of the season.

The avoidable fixture changes highlight a bigger issue in football, namely the annoying logjams which have been created as a result of the sport’s governing bodies piling ever-increasing demands on players and seeking to fill every free spot on the calendar in the pursuit of more fixtures and, in turn, more money.

Not that they care a jot about the money of the loyal, match-going supporters who are now left with the headache of rearranging their plans thanks to UEFA.