Klopp doesn´t see the ´100 per cent benefit´ of stopping the Premier League due to COVID-19

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says he does not see the “100 per cent benefit” of stopping the Premier League in amid the increasing number of COVID-19 cases.

Half of the 10 Premier League fixtures scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday have had to be postponed, and three Reds players – Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones – are suspected to have contracted the virus.

However, despite the disruption caused by the rise in cases, Klopp is not sure that suspending the league altogether is the solution as it would lead to fixture congestion later down the line.

“First of all, I’m not against stopping the league, I just don’t see the 100 per cent benefit of it,” Klopp said ahead of Liverpool’s game against Tottenham on Sunday. 

“Between stopping the league and carrying on there are different levels which we can talk about. Stopping the league means we stop now for one week, for two weeks [and] means five, six games [in] two weeks, probably?

“So, when do you want to play them? Maybe at one specific point it’s not in our hands anymore and somebody else would stop the league then it would be like this.

“The other thing is we just play on, which is really difficult – pretty much impossible because we have now not only smaller squads because step by step players will get infected, that’s how it looks in the moment, and hopefully we can break the chain somehow, but it’s not unlikely that it will happen.

Jürgen Klopp says Liverpool are still awaiting confirmation of the suspected positive COVID-19 tests of Fabinho, Curtis Jones and Virgil van Dijk.

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 17, 2021

“With reduced squads, smaller squads, you cannot play that schedule. Can you play on? Yes. Can you use youth players, academy players? Yes. Can you play then every three days? No.

“That’s the thing, even when you stay healthy it’s already tough, but when you are not complete then it’s really tough, or it’s impossible and that’s the thing.

“There are obviously some things we have to talk about and maybe we see it as a chance because the schedule was always really, really, really tough for us, on the edge, if not over. Now we see it’s really too many football games and there is no space for any kind of rescheduling or whatever. Then we realise that we can do better.”

Liverpool are a point behind league leaders Manchester City and three clear of third-placed Chelsea.