Jurgen Klopp explains the ‘massive difference’ that will give Liverpool quadruple boost

Jurgen Klopp has explained how Liverpool’s travel plans for their returning South American quartet have gone much smoother this time around.

Darwin Nunez (Uruguay), Luis Diaz (Colombia), Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina) and Alisson Becker (Brazil) all jetted off to represent their respective nations during the international break. When they did so last month, they arrived back in training only a day before Liverpool faced Wolves in what was the lunchtime kick-off.

For the Molineux encounter, Nunez and Diaz started on the bench, while Mac Allister was withdrawn at half-time following a jaded performance in the opening 45 minutes. The Reds trailed at the interval before going on to earn a 3-1 win.

Klopp’s side face a similar situation when they face Everton in the Merseyside derby at Anfield on Saturday. It’s again a 12.30 BST kick-off, although Liverpool have ensured that South American foursome did return to training a day earlier than last month. And the Reds boss has revealed the organisation has gone ‘much better’.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Klopp said: “The first time it didn't work out because of miscommunication with other clubs. We booked flights, better flights, brought them all together, picked them up wherever they played so they didn't have to take a commercial flight here to there because obviously it's pretty tiring after 100 minutes of football and you have to make sure you get your connecting flight and things like that.

“We are pretty good at that usually because we have had enough opportunities to practice it. This time it was much better. After the games they played in, they could fly straight to England and that makes a massive difference. What we can do, we always try to do.

“The first time, it didn't work out. It's pretty expensive, you cannot pay out [for] all these planes all of the time so we usually share it with other clubs. This time, it worked out pretty well.”