Arne Slot voices familiar Jurgen Klopp concern after Champions League win

Arne Slot has joined predecessor Jurgen Klopp in complaining about Liverpool being forced to play the early Premier League fixture in the same week as a later Champions League tie.

Liverpool continued its 100 percent start to the new Champions League campaign after beating Bologna 2-0 at Anfield on Wednesday night but now faces a tight turnaround. Liverpool play Crystal Palace at 12:30 p.m. local time (7:30 a.m. ET) on Saturday, after the fixture was selected for an early kick-off broadcasted locally on TNT Sports and USA Network in the U.S.

Manchester City and Arsenal both played their Champions League games on Tuesday, but will kick-off at the weekend after Liverpool's game against Palace has concluded. Following Liverpool's win on Wednesday night, Slot was told he's the only head coach in club history to start his tenure with eight wins in nine games but referenced the tight schedule in his response.

"It says a lot about where we started off, how much the players bought into it, and how much the staff helped me as well to create this start," Slot said. "Even more difficult fixtures are coming up, starting on Saturday when we play a 12:30 kick-off after playing on Wednesday, yeah, but it's nice to start this way, that's clear."

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Aston Villa, who also played on Wednesday night and secured a historic 1-0 win over Bayern Munich, has been scheduled to play on Sunday. Slot's stance on the situation isn't uncommon at Liverpool, as Klopp became infamous for complaining about the club constantly being selected for the early Saturday slot.

Back in 2018, Klopp referred to the 12:30 fixture time as a "breakfast" slot and continued to complain about Liverpool being treated unfairly compared to its Premier League rivals. Ahead of his departure at the end of last season following nine years in charge, Klopp used a press conference to make one final complaint.

"I was actually waiting for Amnesty International to go to them. I would like to be part of that meeting when someone says ‘Liverpool 12:30’ and the whole room is bursting into laughter," Klopp said in May. "I had a discussion only the other day with colleagues from our favorite TV channel which I will definitely not watch again, TNT..."

While Klopp was heckled by rival fans for his moaning, the former Liverpool coach does have evidence to support his argument. From the moment Klopp arrived at Anfield in October 2015 until he left at the end of last season, Liverpool was selected to play the early Premier League game more than any other team.

Throughout Klopp's spell at Liverpool, they played the early Saturday game 13.6 percent of the time. City and Tottenham (both 12.1 percent) were the next in line. It also impacted Liverpool's results, as Klopp's win rate dipped massively when playing those Premier League games.

Klopp managed an impressive 63 percent win rate in the Premier League but won just 49 percent of games that were played at 12:30 on a Saturday. This will be the second time Slot has overseen an early Saturday clash since moving to Liverpool, in just his seventh Premier League game.