5 months ago
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Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
The Premier League giving Liverpool the lunchtime kickoff in week one of the 2024-25 season certainly feels like an intentional joke and/or troll job.
During Jürgen Klopp’s time in charge at Liverpool, no club in the Premier League were given more Saturday lunchtime kickoffs than his Reds, a point the manager was never shy to bring up given the difficulty posed by a short turnaround from mid-week matches.
It elicited groans and exasperated eye rolls from many fans, then, when the 2024-24 fixtures were released and Liverpool and new head coach Arne Slot were handed the very first early Saturday kickoff of the upcoming season against newly promoted Ipswich Town.
“They’ve told me it’s going to be 12:30,” was Slot’s reaction to the Premier League deciding to give his Liverpool side the season’s first lunchtime kickoff. “From what I know, Jurgen complained about this so probably they thought let’s put them at 12:30 again.
“No, it’s different to a normal 12:30 because it’s not after a game in Europe. So I’m 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 but we are looking forward to that.”
As amusing as the scheduling choice is, it’s certainly true that the concerns around early kickoffs later in the season after mid-week European matches and international breaks with players jetlagged after flying back to England won’t apply to this particular game.
For Ipswich, earning back-to-back promotions to get to the Premier League will make for a special home opener—but for Slot and Liverpool, the only concern will be getting off to their own good start and on paper his Reds will be favoured heavily to do that.
