Jurgen Klopp has familiar problem as Alisson absence reminder points finger at Premier League

Jurgen Klopp has grown all too accustomed to issues regarding team selection following the international break.

And a combination of injuries, suspensions and late returns mean the Liverpool manager will have another headache when his team are back in Premier League action at home to Everton on Saturday at 12.30pm.

It'll be the 13th such early kick-off for the Reds during Klopp's tenure, a number that will increase further with the trip to Manchester City next month. Indeed, Liverpool will have then taken part in six of the last eight 12.30pm kick-offs after an international break - matching the entire total of the next club over a period of more than eight years.

But no matter the problems with which Klopp has to contend during the next week, they won't compare to the decisions that had to be made for the game that started that sequence of early starts two years ago today.

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The Reds headed to Watford not only having to deal with another lunchtime post-international break fixture, but also the implications of coronavirus travel restrictions as the world slowly returned to normal after the destabilising impact of the pandemic.

The need to catch up on World Cup qualifiers saw South America national teams play three times inside eight days, the latter game taking place barely 36 hours before Liverpool were due to step out at Vicarage Road.

The Reds wanted the game put back to 7.45pm. Watford, as was their right, refused. The Premier League, meanwhile, sat back and did nothing. And quarantine rules meant Liverpool had no choice but to send Brazilian duo Alisson Becker