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Trent Alexander-Arnold believes “something is not right” with this season’s schedule as he pointed out the difficulties Liverpool face with a kickoff at 12.30pm.
The Reds will head out in Brighton and Hove Albion tomorrow for the Premier League opener, less than 63 hours after their 2-0 loss at home to Atalanta in the Champions League.
Next month’s updated match list has given Liverpool a similar task as it follows a home game against Tottenham Hotspur on 16 December with a trip to Crystal Palace less than three days later.
And having already participated in the start of the season on Saturday at 12.30pm directly after an international break, the 2-2 draw in the derby at Everton, Alexander-Arnold has highlighted the negative impact of such a start time.
“When you have such a short period of time to recover, it makes a huge difference,” said the right-back.
“Even with the times of the first games, you have to get up early, leave the hotel or home early to get to the stadium, there is not enough time!
“It’s hard to explain, you can feel it in your legs, those extra hours just to hang around, not rush in the morning, it makes a big difference in how you recover and how you feel going into games.”
Alexander-Arnold will not participate on the South Coast as he continues to recover from the calf problem he suffered at Manchester City three weeks ago.
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The right-back is one of several Liverpool players who have been hit this season by muscle problems, including Fabinho, Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri, as they have to deal with a condensed and abbreviated campaign due to the coronavirus pandemic.
And Alexander-Arnold said: “Not only has the calendar year been the strangest anyone in football has ever seen or participated in, it is also the most intense, which doesn’t make sense.
“The timing of the matches, in terms of their last international matches (before playing early on a Saturday) defies common sense. Anyone with common sense would realize that this is something that cannot happen.”
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Speaking to the Evening Standard, Alexander-Arnold added: “There is not enough time to recover, his body cannot recover that quickly.
“Your muscles are not 100% and this is how you pick up injuries. Something has to change.
“I think these problems could have really been predicted, anyone could have seen them coming. Something is not right. As long as something happens soon (to change things), then it is better than nothing.”
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