The Football Association says Liverpool and other Premier League clubs were warned that FA Cup fourth-round replays would fall during the mid-season break, and says it “went to great lengths” to ensure a break could happen at all. Klopp said on Sunday: “The Premier League asked us to respect the winter break. “The FA went to great lengths to create an annual mid-season player break, working closely with the Premier League and its clubs,” an FA statement read. This allowed the Premier League room in its calendar to have a split round of fixtures over two weekends. “Senior players having a winter break is right, you can’t implement one and then have a replay in the break.

Source: Express January 27, 2020 15:56 UTC