Liverpool manager Arne Slot jokes about Jurgen Klopp as first match now an early kick-off

Arne Slot has taken a light-hearted jab at the club’s former boss Jurgen Klopp over the Premier League scheduling. Slot expressed no qualms about his first match in charge being an early 12.30 kick-off against Ipswich Town, despite Klopp’s well-known grievances with such timings.

Liverpool will travel to Portman Road for their season opener against the newly promoted side, a fixture that has been selected by TNT Sports for the Saturday lunchtime slot. Klopp had often lamented the frequency of Liverpool’s early starts, but Slot quipped on the club’s official website, “They’ve told me it’s going to be 12.30… from what I know, Jurgen complained a lot about this so probably they thought, with Jurgen being out let’s put them at 12.30 again! ‘ Slot told Liverpool’s official website.”

Slot also noted the uniqueness of the situation, saying, “No, it’s different to a normal 12.30 because it’s not after a game in Europe. Looking forward to it. A promoted team so it’s going to be special for them as well.”

The Dutchman acknowledged the appeal of beginning the campaign at home but showed enthusiasm for the upcoming challenge: “I think every team might prefer a home game to start with, but we’re going to face Ipswich and we are looking forward to that.”

As Slot gears up for his inaugural Anfield match, which will see Brentford visit, he shared his excitement about introducing a new chapter for the Reds: “Every new club you go to and it’s your first home game, it’s special,” he remarked, anticipating the start of his tenure at Liverpool.

“I remember it being special at Feyenoord and I’m expecting it to be really special here in Liverpool as well. But like I said, the first thing I’m going to look at is the first training session we have and then afterwards all the sessions that come after and games we will play.

“We have to take this really seriously to be the best possible team we can be at the first game at Ipswich and the second game, the home game against Brentford.

“I think everybody would tell you in football you go game by game, and the first and most important one is Ipswich.

“But if I say this and the players would listen to this, they would get the wrong impression of me, because the friendly games are really important for us to be in the best possible position for the Ipswich game.”