Liverpool's unusual kick-off time for Premier League game against Brentford explained | OneFootball

Liverpool have been given an unusual kick-off time for one of their upcoming matches.

The Reds are known for sporadically playing at different times, having featured in both the Europa League and Champions League over the last three years, which have a direct impact on how Premier League games are scheduled. Fans are facing extraordinary travel times in order to support the team.

Previously, the trend used to be the 12:30pm kick off slot on a Saturday afternoon, hosted by TNT Sports as the main UK broadcaster. At one point, Liverpool had kicked-off at that time almost double any other team in England, and with most games coming after an international break, fans conspired that the Reds were almost cursed in some way, having been consistently picked in the slot.

However, we've only seen Liverpool play in that slot once so far this season through the opening eight Premier League games, so perhaps it's likely there's been a change for this campaign.

Although, in the Reds' next game against Brentford at the GTEC Community Stadium, a particularly unusual kick-off time has been selected and it's a little mind-boggling to fully understand why.

Bizarre scheduling vs Brentford

In the last announcement of fixture changes, following the TV companies having their pick of the bunch, Liverpool confirmed that an 8pm kick-off would take place on Saturday October 25th.

The Premier League recently invented this slot to increase the amount of opportunities to stream games, navigating past the pre-existing rules about 3pm kick-offs being shown on the world feed.

It joined the other slots, which include Friday Night Football on Sky Sports, the 'early kickoff' on TNT Sports, the Sky Sports 5:30pm kickoff as part of Saturday Night Football, as well as the two Sunday fixtures at 2pm and 4:30pm for Super Sunday, before the final Monday Night Football opportunity.

But given Liverpool fans will have to travel to London for the game and then face the 200+ mile commute back to Merseyside after full-time, it makes little-to-no sense that authorities would make such a call as it would leave thousands of supporters with four hours travel in the middle of the night.

According to GiveMeSport, the Reds were initially picked to play in the 12:30pm slot by TNT Sports back in August, but the fact that the team was in Frankfurt on Wednesday night resulted in a rethink.

It is understood that Liverpool were forced to stay in Germany overnight after the fixture because of the country's rule on flights. Specifically for Frankfurt airport, there is a ban on landings and take-offs between 11pm and 5am, with limited exceptions - it's unknown whether LFC would qualify for it.

As such, an early take-off on Thursday morning is more likely, making the 12:30pm kick off-time too quick a turnaround for the team, when you add the travel from Liverpool to London into the equation.

The report adds that three other matches were changed to Sunday kick-offs, notably Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace, who play on Thursday in the Europa and Conference League.

Generally speaking, Liverpool have been dealt an unfortunate hand, with two away fixtures coming in succession, and if we zoom out even further, the Reds will have played at home in just one of their last six games. Of course, everything plateaus out across the season, but it's no doubt been a tough period for Arne Slot and the players, and regrettably, the fans are being sent on sporadic away trips.