Antonio Conte has accused the Premier League of a lack of respect by arranging Chelsea to play at Liverpool just two days after they return from Azerbaijan.

Chelsea take on Qarabag, which involves a round trip in excess of 5000 miles, in the Champions League on Wednesday night before facing Jurgen Klopp's side at Anfield.

The Blues, who flew out on Monday, don't expect to get back to London until 5am on Thursday morning, leaving little time to prepare for the Liverpool contest which kicks off live on Sky Sports at 5.30pm.

Chelsea were at a similar disadvantage in September when they won 2-1 at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night, but were then outplayed by Manchester City in a 1-0 reverse on the Saturday - a game broadcast on BT Sport.

Conte, who moaned about this situation after winning at West Brom on Saturday, has criticised the Premier League once again.

He said: "For me, I don't like to find excuses or alibis, but this is the reality. Sometimes I think it's right to give respect for our job.

"I must be honest, I'm a bit surprised because, this season, it's the second time this situation has happened.

"The first time it was the same: against Manchester City, when we played on Wednesday away at Atletico Madrid and came back to London at 5am and then we played City on the Saturday, who had played the game before.

"Now Liverpool are playing (Sevilla) tonight and we have to play tomorrow against Qarabag, a long travel, a long trip.

"It will be very difficult for us to recover, to rest. Whoever prepared the fixtures for the League must pay great attention.

"Otherwise it's very difficult when you ask me if my team are ready to catch Manchester City (who are nine points clear in the table) if they put us in this type of situation.

"Imagine playing against Manchester City in the same condition? If we'd won the game, the gap would be only three points. If we'd drawn, it would be six points. Now it's nine points."

Chelsea were the last English team to win the Champions League five years ago, with the majority of sides struggling in recent years to even reach the latter stages of the competition.

Conte feels it is no coincidence and added: “I'd like to underline that I'm talking for all the teams who are playing in the Champions League, not just for Chelsea.

"At this moment, England needs to try to understand this (issue) and change something.

"For a lot of time, there isn't an English team playing a final in the Champions League. Why this? The teams (in England) are very strong, and every team has the possibility to go through to the path to the Champions League (final).

"Whoever prepares these fixtures must pay great attention. We are doing our job. It's important to do our job in the best way. I think we want also a bit of respect for our job.”

Given the schedule this week, Conte appears ready to make a number of changes to his first XI for the Qarabag fixture.

“For sure, I have to make the best decision for these games," he said. "Also because we are playing every three days.

"It's normal to have rotation for the team. But I trust all my players. I have my choices and I'm very sure on my choices. I trust in all my players."