Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says the club doesn't know how they will manage to play two games, in two different competitions, on two separate continents within 24 hours next month.
After winning last season's Champions League the Merseysiders grabbed themselves a spot at the annual Club World Cup taking place in Qatar, with the semi-final in the competition on December 18th. However, one day previously they are due to play Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup quarter-final.
"We don't know exactly yet. We have an idea how we'll do it but it's too early to speak about that," said Klopp when asked how they will be able to manage both games competitively.
"We had to make a decision now and we made the decision because all the other alternatives were more problems than solutions. And that didn't work out. So we said, OK, that's how we can do it as good as possible for us. All the rest, we now have a bit of time to think about that.
"We have more important things to do now - today playing a game, then concentrating on the next game. But in these next couple of weeks, we will make a decision on how exactly it will look. But in the end, a Liverpool team will play, 100 percent.
"The Carabao Cup, it always sounds like we don't want to play it but that's not true. What I don't like about the Carabao Cup, to be 100 percent honest, is two legs in the semi-final. I don't understand that. The rest is a nice competition.
"The Club World Cup, you play only if you win the Champions League and that doesn't happen in your life five million times, so that means we will take the opportunity if they ask you. Is it the best time of the year? No. Are we pretty busy? Yes. But you go there and we try to play all the games we have with all that we have."
In a statement on Tuesday Liverpool FC said,
"We will be utilising two playing squads simultaneously, with one squad participating in the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar and another in the Carabao Cup.
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."
