Whelan blasts ‘hard to take’ Liverpool and Tottenham controversy after Klopp update
Noel Whelan has claimed Tottenham have an “unfair” advantage over the likes of Liverpool and Leeds United thanks to the scheduling of fixtures.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Leeds striker insisted having players missing is “hard to take” when a rival may have theirs available.
As quoted by journalist James Pearce, Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp has confirmed both Alisson and Fabinho will miss Saturday’s 12:30 kick-off against Watford.
Brazil beat Uruguay 4-1 in the early hours of Friday morning (BST).
While Klopp is missing two key stars, the Telegraph claim Spurs could have all four of their South American internationals available.
Tottenham face Newcastle United at 16:30 BST on Sunday, giving the quartet over 24 hours longer than their Liverpool counterparts to return and recover.
Whelan urged officials to use more thought when scheduling fixtures in future.
Whelan told Football Insider’s Russell Edge: “I don’t think there’s been much thought about the clubs. Where they’ve got to go and the games they’ve got to play.
“The schedule could have been arranged a little bit better, in my opinion. Give them that bit of time so they can come back to domestic football and play for their respective clubs.
“Because of the game on Sunday, that gives those players a little bit of extra time to recover.
“When you look at Liverpool, who are playing Saturday afternoon, it was always very unlikely they would get risked.
“The same with other clubs who have South American representatives playing abroad.
“It’s a little bit unfair and little bit hard to take. You want your players in form. You want your strongest squad out there to win games. That’s what it’s all about.”
In other news, pundit tips Liverpool to replace senior star “out of his depth” with new signing “just like Kane”.