Liverpool to Play Carabao Cup, Club World Cup Games on Consecutive Days With Two Squads

The scheduling mess will force Liverpool to use two entirely different squads for the two competitions.

Liverpool has confirmed its Carabao Cup quarterfinal tie will be played a day before the Reds also feature in the semifinals of the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar.

It means that Liverpool will simultaneously be using two wholly different squads for the two games, as the club’s already congested fixture list made it impossible for the domestic cup tie to be played at any other time.

Our #CarabaoCup quarter-final tie at @AVFCOfficial will take place on Tuesday 17th December. https://t.co/XyxwTy3wbB

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 5, 2019

A statement from Liverpool explained: “The club would like to take this opportunity to underline that while this is not an ideal scenario, it is an outcome which was arrived at with the best interests of the competition, our fellow clubs and ourselves as the sole motivating factor.

“We would like to thank the EFL for their efforts to accommodate us and we can confirm alternative dates were discussed, but ultimately none were considered suitable without compromising the scheduling of the competition itself or placing an undue strain on our playing staff.”

Liverpool had already been forced to postpone a Premier League fixture against West Ham due to its participation in the Club World Cup, where it will represent UEFA as a result of winning the Champions League last season.

But a lack of other midweek availability in December and the scheduling of the Carabao Cup semifinals in early January ensured Liverpool had little choice but to stick with the original date of the last-eight tie and split its resources across the two competitions.

It remains to be seen how exactly Liverpool plans to do this. But the likely scenario is the bulk of the first-team squad heads to Qatar, and a predominantly young group of players, many of whom have already played in the previous rounds of the Carabao Cup, will face Aston Villa.