Jurgen Klopp famously hated a midday kick-off – and even in his absence, the Premier League have handed the Reds a 12.30pm start.
Liverpool will kick off their campaign against new-boys Ipswich Town on the first lunchtime kick off of the season. And fans have joked the Premier League is still trolling Klopp, 54, who left the Reds at the end of last season.
“Klopp is somewhere in Spain drinking a piña colada and laughing his head off at the fact we’ve been given 12.30 as our first game of the season,” one fan joked. While a second said: “Klopp is gone but 12.30 KOs resume…”
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“So glad Jurgen Klopp retired. I don’t want him to suffer another 12.30 kick off from a nasty, horrible organisation,” a third posted.
“Arne Slot probably copy/pasting Klopp’s rants about Liverpool getting all the 12.30 kick-offs in advance,” a fourth shared. And another added: “Surprised Klopp hasn’t been to the media yet moaning about the 12.30 KO!”
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(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Klopp took aim at the slot last season, he claimed that Liverpool “in the whole world have the quickest turnaround between games”.
But he added that the impact of early kick-off times does not just affect his team, before suggesting England’s European woes were down to the slot.
“In general I think it’s a really interesting subject. Aston Villa lost 4-2 last night for example – [it] would mean if they go out no English team will be in any kind of European final,” said Klopp.
“I watch a lot of football. The Premier League is the best league in the world so it’s not overrated, the players are over-worked.”
Of course, on this occasion Liverpool will not have in fact kicked a ball competitively before their opening fixture, which will be screened live on TNT Sports.