Jurgen Klopp is desperate for Liverpool to avoid a replay against Arsenal in the FA Cup, saying a draw in Sunday’s game would “kill” the Reds’ winter break.
Liverpool travel to the Emirates Stadium for a blockbuster third-round tie on Sunday, with the Reds still in contention to win a Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup and UEFA Europa League quadruple.
Klopp’s team will be without key players for a busy period in their season, with Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo representing their respective nations at the Africa Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup, which both finish on the second weekend of February.
The Premier League is about to take its annual staggered winter break, with Liverpool not in league action again until they visit Bournemouth on January 21, and Klopp does not wish to see any further additions to their fixture list.
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“A rematch against Arsenal would not be helpful, that’s how it is because it just doesn’t fit in,” said Klopp, who has previously called for FA Cup replays to be scrapped.
“It would kill the winter break. Whatever I could say about that, it’s not important.
“To us it is just a normal month. It’s busy, but not crazy busy like December, when we had five games in 13 days. That just makes no sense.
“That is just how it is, some teams won’t play a lot of football, but I feel that rhythm helps, to be 100 per cent honest.
“In the end we will see. There may be teams that have two or three weeks between games, but we don’t have that issue.”
Next up, @EMIRATESFACUP action 🔜 PIC.TWITTER.COM/BCA55QLUBV
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) JANUARY 4, 2024
Replays in the third and fourth rounds of the FA Cup will reportedly be scrapped from 2025 onwards, when two-legged EFL Cup semi-finals could also become a thing of the past.
Liverpool have a chance to reach the first major final of the season when they face Fulham in the last four of the EFL Cup, hosting the first leg at Anfield on Wednesday, but Klopp will not rotate against Arsenal to preserve his players for that game.
“I’m not sure if Arsenal is a game to rotate,” he said. “Sitting here, I’m not 100 per cent sure we have the opportunity to do so.
“We don’t have the biggest squad available. We have players available and we can 100 per cent line up with a good team. That’s what we’ll do.
“If afterwards that looks like rotation, I don’t know. We had six days between games. That’s long, so there’s no need for rotation.
“You can say we have another game in three days, we can think about that game afterwards, that’s what we usually do. They both have the same importance. We want to win these games.
“We want to go to that final, but we want to get to the next round [of the FA Cup] as well. It’s probably the most tricky draw you can get, and it will be a tough one, but the game here was a good one and lets hope we can show a good performance there as well.”
A wonderful curling effort from @WATARU0209 in our comeback win over Fulham 🙌 PIC.TWITTER.COM/I2BREK3F7E
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) JANUARY 4, 2024
