Later this month, Liverpool will lose to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final. This is a problem Jurgen Klopp must deal with wisely. The Premier League announced on Saturday that Liverpool’s game against Luton Town later this month has been moved to Wednesday 21 February.
The game was scheduled to take place on the weekend of the Carabao Cup final, so it was always rescheduled. Both Chelsea and Liverpool moved their matches to new dates that weekend. We now know that the Reds are four days away from the final. That’s less than the eight days they had planned.
Interestingly, Chelsea’s match against Tottenham Hotspur has not yet been rescheduled. The fact that it wasn’t placed in the same state as Liverpool-Luton suggests it won’t be placed in that state.
This may be down to European football, with UEFA fixtures taking place in week 19. The Premier League doesn’t like to schedule matches against European competition, but Liverpool’s squad are keeping a number of dates open. However, neither Chelsea nor Spurs have participated in European football this season.
In European matchweeks you can place on Monday or Friday, which takes you further away from UEFA but still allows you to take advantage of the open week. What all this tells us is that Liverpool are now one step closer to reaching the Carabao Cup final. Compared to a full week for Chelsea, there are only four days until the game.
Luton are the team that beat Liverpool, but they are the team that took points from the Reds earlier this season. Jurgen Klopp will need to work his rotation wisely to build a side that can comfortably beat the Hatters while they are well rested ahead of the final.
