Liverpool fans have been left furious that Arne Slot 's first game in charge has been selected for the Saturday 12.30pm kick-off slot.
Former boss Jurgen Klopp frequently took aim at the Premier League and broadcaster TNT Sports for making his side play at that time. Towards the end of last season, the German even went as far as branding it a 'crime'.
It is an issue that does not appear likely to go away, with new boss Slot's first match coming against newly-promoted Ipswich Town on 17 August. That game will also be the first TNT screen next season.
The decision was announced by TNT on Twitter, as they excitedly wrote: "Our first Premier League game of the 2024/25 season is here! Newly promoted Ipswich welcome Arne Slot's Liverpool to Portman Road. Live on @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK."
But the news has not gone down well among Liverpool fans, who have fumed at the move to once again hand them the 12.30pm kick-off. One wrote: "Pick another team for an early kick-off for once."
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Another added: "Start as you mean to go on, eh? 12:30pm love affair with LFC." A third supporter fumed: "Honestly 12.30 again. Just taking the p*** at this point." A fourth said: "Can't you ever pick another team to play the lunchtime kick-off or no?!"
Another added: "Here we go again, matchday one and we're away at 12:30, definite agenda against us, how many more times than any other team will this be again this season?" A sixth joked: "It's what Jurgen would have wanted."
HAVE YOUR SAY! Should the Premier League scrap the 12.30pm slot? Comment below.
Former boss Jurgen Klopp frequently hit out at the 12.30pm slot (PA)Klopp launched a stinging attack on TNT and the 12.30pm kick-off slot at the start of May as he prepared to hand over to Slot. The German insisted he would never again watch a game screened by the broadcaster.
"I had a chat with TNT – a television channel I will never watch again! – and they said they pay us to play football but I don’t see it that way. Football pays them. You have to become a part of football again and not just the squeezer, that is some advice from an old man on the way out," he said.
“People can survive without match days from time to time. City, Arsenal, us all out in the quarter-finals. It’s not a reflection of quality but that we couldn’t deliver on the day. Other countries have good teams, of course.
"When I speak about it people think it is because of the last game, no. It’s not. It’s a general problem. They dare Thursday-Sunday, Wednesday-Saturday 12:30pm. It is a crime. I was waiting for Amnesty International to go to them!
“I would like to be part of that meeting when someone says ‘Liverpool 12:30pm’ and the whole room bursts into laughter. I would love to be there. In the whole world we have the quickest turnaround between games but they are still happy and collect subscribers. You can take me off. If they are ever after a pundit, I speak English I could do it.”
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