Liverpool’s TWO games in 24 hours — 4,000 miles apart

LIVERPOOL will play two games on two continents in 24 hours after the date for their Carabao Cup quarterfinal against Aston Villa was confirmed. Following a week of discussions with the EFL, Liverpool will travel to Villa Park on Tuesday, December 17 for a fixture that will be broadcast live on television — 24 hours before Jurgen Klopp’s squad contest the semi-final of the Club World Cup in Qatar 4,000 miles away. The remarkable circumstances at least provide a solution for Liverpool’s increasingly crammed fixture list. It had originally been mooted that the Villa tie would be on January 8, 2020 — the night reserved for the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals. It does, however, raise questions about what kind of team Liverpool — who asked the EFL for the December date — will be able to field in Birmingham as the club are committed to taking a strong squad to Doha for a tournament they are yet to win. An EFL statement said Liverpool had committed to ‘fielding a team that is largely consistent with those that have participated in earlier rounds of this season’s competition’ at Villa Park. Klopp’s side reached the last eight in the most dramatic fashion, beating Arsenal 5-4 on penalties after a thrilling 5-5 draw at Anfield seven days ago. The German said after that contest, though, that he would sacrifice Liverpool’s place in the competition if a suitable solution was not found. This might be a solution but judging from the tone of a statement Liverpool issued last night, it could not be described as suitable. There is frustration within Anfield’s hierarchy that they cannot play their strongest possible team in both fixtures. The statement read: ‘The club would like to take this opportunity to underline that while this is not an ideal scenario, it is an outcome which was arrived at with the best interests of the competition, our fellow clubs and ourselves as the sole motivating factor. ‘We would like to thank the EFL for their efforts to accommodate us and we can confirm alternative dates were discussed, but ultimately none were considered suitable without compromising the scheduling of the competition itself or placing an undue strain on our playing staff.’