For three Liverpool FC youngsters, 21-year-old goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, and 17-year-old defenders Ki-Jana Hoever and Sepp van den Berg, the opportunity is there for an extremely rare double. The trio have been named to the squad for two games in two days in two different competitions that are 3,300 miles apart.
They’re not expected to feature tonight in the Club World Cup semifinal against Monterrey in Qatar, but are instead arriving as reinforcements to the squad that is already there. Being alive in five different competitions, (four now after the 5-0 loss to Aston Villa in the League Cup quarterfinal) has led to extreme fixture congestion.
To deal with it, manager Jurgen Klopp split his squad in two and sent the U23s, led by the club’s youth coach to Villa Park for the League Cup clash while the 20 strong senior squad went to Qatar for tonight’s clash. The squad, battling for a spot in the tournament final against Flamengo (who beat Al-Hilal in the other semifinal) on Saturday, now stands at 23.
Van Den Berg and Kelleher started and played the full 90 last night, while Hoever was on for 82 minutes, so don’t expect any of them to feature tonight, but the triad’s presence is required given the lack of depth the club has now, due to injuries, in this crazy situation.
With a strong likelihood of playing for the tourney title on Saturday, Liverpool’s weekend fixture got postponed.
Liverpool FC vs Monterrey Club World Cup Semifinal FYIs
Team News, Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Kickoff: Wednesday Dec 18, 530 BST, Khalifa International Stadium
TV: BBC 2
Odds via Bwin: Liverpool FC win 13/50, Draw 5/1, Monterry win 10/1
Prediction: Liverpool 5, Monterrey 0
The most dominant side in Europe versus a Liga MX side? It’s easy to predict how this one will end.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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