Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, has reminded Antonio Conte that Chelsea will benefit from a kind Christmas period this year after his counterpart's complaints about fixture scheduling.

The two teams meet at Anfield in Saturday's evening kick-off, with Chelsea taking to the pitch less than 72 hours after returning from a 6,000-mile round trip to Azerbaijan's FK Qarabag in the Champions League.

Conte criticised the Premier League's scheduling of Chelsea's trip to Merseyside earlier this week. “To have only one day to rest and only one day to prepare this big game is not simple, is not easy. I think also it's not right,” he said.

Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings Show all 12 1 /12 Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings 1-liverpool-0.jpg SEVILLE, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 21: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Liverpool line up before the UEFA Champions League group E match between Sevilla FC and Liverpool FC at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on November 21, 2017 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images) Liverpool FC via Getty Images Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings 02-karius-0.jpg SEVILLE, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 21: Loris Karius of Liverpool celebrates after Roberto Firmino (not pictured) of Liverpool scored their sides third goal during the UEFA Champions League group E match between Sevilla FC and Liverpool FC at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on November 21, 2017 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) Getty Images Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings 03-gomez-0.jpg LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Joe Gomez of Liverpool FC during the UEFA Champions League group E match between Liverpool FC and Sevilla FC at Anfield on September 13, 2017 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Livesey - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images) UEFA via Getty Images Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings 04-lovren-0.jpg SEVILLE, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 20: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Dejan Lovren of Liverpool during a training session at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on November 20, 2017 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images ) Liverpool FC via Getty Images Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings 05-klavan-0.jpg 21st November 2017, Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Seville, Spain; UEFA Champions League, Seville versus Liverpool; Ragnar Klavan during the warm up (Photo by Pedro Salado/Action Plus via Getty Images) Action Plus via Getty Images Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings 06-moreno-0.jpg Liverpool's Spanish defender Alberto Moreno (C) celebrates after Liverpool's Brazilian midfielder Roberto Firmino scored a goal on November 21, 2017 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Sevilla during the UEFA Champions League group E football match between Sevilla FC and Liverpool FC. / AFP PHOTO / CRISTINA QUICLER (Photo credit should read CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings 07-wijnaldum-0.jpg SEVILLE, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 21: Georginio Wijnaldum of Liverpool FC reacts during the UEFA Champions League group E match between Sevilla FC and Liverpool FC at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on November 21, 2017 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images) Getty Images Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings 08-henderson-0.jpg SEVILLE, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 21: Jordan Henderson of Liverpool reacts during the UEFA Champions League group E match between Sevilla FC and Liverpool FC at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on November 21, 2017 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) Getty Images Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings 09-coutinho-0.jpg SEVILLE, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 21: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Philippe Coutinho of Liverpool during the UEFA Champions League group E match between Sevilla FC and Liverpool FC at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on November 21, 2017 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images) Liverpool FC via Getty Images Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings 10-firmino-0.jpg Liverpool's Senegalese midfielder Sadio Mane (R) celebrates with Liverpool's Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah (L) after scoring a goal on November 21, 2017 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Sevilla during the UEFA Champions League group E football match between Sevilla FC and Liverpool FC. / AFP PHOTO / CRISTINA QUICLER (Photo credit should read CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings 11-firmino-0.jpg SEVILLE, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 21: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Roberto Firmino of Liverpool at the start of the UEFA Champions League group E match between Sevilla FC and Liverpool FC at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on November 21, 2017 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images) Liverpool FC via Getty Images Sevilla vs Liverpool: Player ratings 12-mane-0.jpg Liverpool's Senegalese midfielder Sadio Mane celebrates after scoring a goal on November 21, 2017 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Sevilla during the UEFA Champions League group E football match between Sevilla FC and Liverpool FC. / AFP PHOTO / CRISTINA QUICLER (Photo credit should read CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images

Klopp has sympathy with the Italian but noted that Chelsea will benefit from a gentler Christmas period than Liverpool, just as they did on their way to winning the Premier League title last season.

“I really get what Antonio is talking about, I heard about it, but maybe he forgot they had the best Christmas schedule last year,” Klopp said on Friday.

“Everyone played every two days and they had 12 days to play three games. It is the same situation this year and I don’t know how the Premier League will explain this.”



Contrary to Klopp's claim, Chelsea actually played three games in nine days over the holidays last year but did enjoy more rest days between fixtures than their rivals. Liverpool, meanwhile, played three times over the course of just six days during the same period.

This year, each top-flight club will play four matches at some point between 22 December and 3 January – Liverpool play their games in the space of 10 days, with a total of seven rest days; Chelsea will play theirs in the space of 11 days, with eight rest days in total.

Klopp added: “Now they have one day less [before Saturday's match at Anfield]. I really think recovery for a team is very important and he is right, but it will not have influence on this game. Maybe the next one, that is possible.