Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has once again hit out at UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin over the high workload placed on footballers due to the hectic fixture list.
The top-ranking UEFA official had previously said that salaries would go down if there were less matches in a direct response to criticism from Klopp and Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
Ceferin also stated that “those who should complain are the workers with a thousand euros a month in the factories,” and Klopp has now continued their war of words amid an ongoing injury crisis at Anfield.
MORE: Updated list of Premier League top goal scorers for 2022/23 season
How did Klopp respond to UEFA president Ceferin?
“I know what work means,” Klopp said in an interview with German publication Kicker. “I don’t want to offend anyone, just to point out again that this game doesn’t work without the players and is only really nice when the best are on the field.”
“Aleksander Ceferin comes out of the corner and makes a polemical statement that other people have to work a lot more. I know that, Mr. Ceferin doesn’t have to tell me that.”
Klopp went on to insist that there are too many stakeholders working to create extra tournaments without caring about the players’ physical wellbeing.
“Everyone pulls [new tournaments], nobody thinks about the players,” he added. “Not one. New tournaments are always being invented. Now we’re making the World Cup bigger so that other teams can also take part. We’re also making the European Championship bigger, amazing!
“A reasonable solution must be found. It does not consist of constantly inventing new competitions and extending them. It’s madness.
“I’m well aware that I’m making an extremely good living from the whole story. I have enough vacation time. The players don’t have it. We have to change that at some point.”
How many players are Liverpool missing through injury?
Liverpool are set to face Crystal Palace in their second game of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign on Monday night and Klopp has eight players on the injury table.
The Reds were held to a disappointing 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage against Fulham in their opener. Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip both started that contest but the former had to be withdrawn due to a hamstring problem and the latter has picked up a groin complaint ahead of the clash with the Eagles.
Thiago is expected to be out of action for at least three weeks, with Klopp having said of his injury after the Fulham game: “It is, of course, not good. It looks pretty bad. He didn’t look too happy.”
The Reds are also without Diogo Jota due to a hamstring issue, while Ibrahima Konate, Curtis Jones, Calvin Ramsay, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Caoimhin Kelleher are all long-term absentees.
However, Konstantinos Tsimikas might be back in the matchday squad after he participated in training on Sunday.
Premier League 2022/23 TV channels, live streams
| UK | USA | Canada | Australia | |
| TV channel | Sky Sports, BT Sport | USA Network, Telemundo, Universo | — | — |
| Streaming | NOW TV, Sky Go, Amazon Prime | fuboTV, Peacock | [INSERT MATCH-SPECIFIC LINK FROM FUBO TRACKER SHEET HERE] fuboTV | Optus Sport |
UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and BT Sport streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.
USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on fuboTV. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.
Canada: Every Premier League game streams live and on demand exclusively via fuboTV.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream matches live and on demand on Optus Sport.
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