Jürgen Klopp has called on Sky to seriously consider the implications of scheduling a match on Christmas Eve that he believes supporters have no appetite for.
It is understood the broadcaster is considering moving Liverpool’s fixture against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium back a day and has already made both clubs aware it wants them to consider the prospect.
Klopp acknowledged that the billions of pounds clubs accept from the television company mean they can have few complaints when issues like this arise but he does not believe the scheduling would serve the greater good.
“I really cannot imagine that anyone wants to watch football on that night,” said the Liverpool manager. “I really think it is no problem for people to be very concentrated on important nights on something other than football.
“If the supporters want to see a game on Christmas Eve then probably the television broadcaster will find a way to deliver it and obviously they’ve found a way already – I didn’t know before the date was possible but now I know it is possible.
“If we play on 24 December I am not sure we can fight against it. Sky has to make a decision if they really want to do this, if they really want to bring supporters on to the streets that night, if they really want to bring all the people who work for television away from home that night. Maybe we will play without the media – that would be nice, just one camera.”
It is understood Arsenal are mindful of the issues that hosting the match on Christmas Eve would present, both in terms of staffing at the Emirates Stadium as well as the obvious disruption for supporters.
Klopp has had his complaints about fixture scheduling before after Liverpool were forced to play twice in less than 48 hours over the festive period. On New Year’s Eve 2016 they hosted Manchester City at 5.30pm before heading to Sunderland for a 3pm start on 2 January.
The Premier League’s view is that clubs knew what they were selling when the latest television deal was struck – with each live game worth £1.2m. Sky will make the final decision, which is still some weeks off, after receiving police advice and if there are no objections on that front it is likely to go ahead.
The prospect of that is no consolation to Klopp. “How it was in the last few years: if something not too cool is possible around fixtures then Liverpool is involved,” he added. “In this moment it would mean that we not only play on the 24th it would mean we play four games in nine days – probably the worst you can get.
“I always said the broadcaster has to consider that the wonderful thing they sell – and give a lot of monies to the clubs – depends on the quality and freshness of the players.”