Liverpool’s early kick-off complaints ignored as new TV deal keeps short turnarounds

Liverpool will be forced to endure another six years of playing at 12.30pm on the Saturday after Wednesday night domestic and international fixtures.

Telegraph Sport can reveal the new £6.4 billion Premier League broadcast contract, which covers seasons 2025-29, contains no provision for clubs to switch a Saturday lunchtime kick-off to the evening unless it immediately follows a Wednesday night European away trip.

Jürgen Klopp was involved in an incredible live television bust-up after Liverpool’s win at Sheffield United on Wednesday evening when Amazon Prime Video presenter Marcus Buckland jokingly called 12.30pm on a Saturday the German’s favourite kick-off time.

Klopp reached breaking point having complained repeatedly about his side playing in the lunchtime slot after every international break this season despite several of his players facing long-haul flights to and from South America.

The Liverpool manager had been campaigning for years to stop clubs being forced to kick-off at that time after playing on a Wednesday night and secured a concession three years ago when a clause was inserted into the current Premier League broadcast deal allowing teams to switch such fixtures to 7.45pm or 8pm if they were away in Europe the previous Wednesday evening.

The provision does not apply to domestic games, meaning Liverpool’s next fixture at Crystal Palace on Saturday will kick-off at 12.30pm despite their match at Bramall Lane not finishing until close to 9.30pm on Wednesday.

Klopp’s biggest bugbear this season has been the scheduling of his side to play at lunchtime on Saturdays immediately after international breaks. He reacted angrily to questions about it back in September on the eve of Liverpool’s win at Wolverhampton Wanderers following the first such break of the campaign and hit out again ahead of their draw at Manchester City last month.

The win at Wolves and October’s Merseyside derby victory over Everton both kicked off at 12.30pm on a Saturday after being selected for broadcast by TNT Sports, which holds the rights to that slot.

The City game, which was shown by Sky Sports, was moved from 5.30pm to lunchtime after the police refused to allow it to take place later in the day due to a history of trouble in the fixture.

Two days before the game, Klopp was caught on camera playfully grabbing Sky Sports News reporter Vinny O’Connor and putting him in a headlock, saying: “Thank you for the 12.30.”

After Liverpool’s previous win over Brentford before the international break, Klopp had also said: “Okay, no one can say at the moment, but how can you put a game like this on Saturday at 12.30pm? Honestly, the people making the decisions, they cannot feel football, it’s just not possible. And if that’s the moment where the world pays the most to see a football game, then nobody has told us. I don’t know if that’s the case, I really don’t.

“There could have been a moment when you have these two teams who have, all together, about 30 international players. They all come back on the same plane, by the way, all the South American players. They all fly back. We put them on the plane from Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia. We just have to make sure we’re ready for this game.”