Liverpool supporters faces a late change to their schedules after an enforced rearrangement of the Carabao Cup third round
The Carabao Cup pictured at Wembley
The Carabao Cup pictured at Wembley(Image: Getty Images)
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Liverpool's Carabao Cup clash with Tottenham Hotspur has been moved to avoid the risk of playing a home game at the same time as Everton for the first time in almost half-a-century.
Confirmation of the Reds' Champions League schedule over the weekend immediately prompted concerns with the opening game against Atletico Madrid scheduled for Wednesday, September 9 - the same evening Everton were due to entertain Wolves in the Carabao Cup third round.
Not since the FA Cup third round in January 1981 have both Merseyside teams played at home at the same time, when Liverpool beat Altrincham and Everton defeated Arsenal.
However, concerns over the city simultaneously holding two senior football matches have now been allayed by both clubs altering their schedules.
Liverpool have brought the Carabao Cup third-round clash against Tottenham forward by 24 hours, with it now taking place on Tuesday, September 15 with an 8pm kick-off. It will still be broadcast live on ITV and Sky Sports.
And that has allowed Everton to push their fixture against Wolves back a week to Wednesday, September 16 to avoid the clash with the Reds' visit of Atletico.
In response, the EFL - who run the Carabao Cup - released a statement in which they blamed UEFA for the predicament, which also impacts on the Championship clash between Wolves and Portsmouth, which has now had to move from September 16 to late October.
It read: "The EFL has been left with no option than to rearrange a number of its fixtures following the announcement of fixture details for the league phase of the UEFA Champions League.
"On 28 August, we confirmed that the Carabao Cup round three tie between Everton and Wolves had been scheduled for Wednesday 9 September. This was confirmed with local stakeholders as per usual practice ahead of announcement.
"On Saturday, UEFA announced that it had scheduled Liverpool v Atletico Madrid for the same date, despite it being clear that Everton and Liverpool cannot play home fixtures on the same evening.
"The EFL met with UEFA officials on Monday morning to explore available options, however in those discussions it was made clear that they were unwilling to consider rescheduling the Liverpool v Atletico Madrid fixture, and avoiding the consequences for other fixtures as a result."
The statement continued: "Over recent seasons the League has made a number of changes to accommodate the expansion of UEFA club competitions – a decision which was made without adequate consultation with domestic leagues.
"These changes have included splitting Carabao Cup round three ties across two weeks, and implementing draw conditions for round three which prevent scheduling conflicts for clubs playing in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
"This makes UEFA’s unwillingness to co-operate all the more frustrating, not least for the supporters of the five clubs that will now be inconvenienced as a result."