Whether it's supporters, managers or players, no one really likes a lunchtime kick off.
Years ago, the only reason Liverpool seemed to play a match at midday was because it was Grand National day, but these are different times. The demands of Premier League television broadcasters, who pay eye-watering amounts of money to screen games into UK households and across the world, mean that the early kick off is here to stay whether you like it or not. And of course, you don't like it.
Aside from disrupting supporters' matchday routines and players' usual preparations, atmospheres can often be low key, failing to create the kind of experience that makes English football - and Liverpool in particular - such a draw. That lack of energy often transfers its handbrake to the pitch, serving up dull matches and sometimes in turn, disappointing results.
READ MORE: Barcelona face carnage behind Mohamed Salah transfer reality as Liverpool move on
READ MORE: FSG made 'massive' Liverpool decision as double transfer request made
But as Liverpool prepare to face Watford on Saturday in a 12.30pm kick off at Anfield, I quick look back at similar-timed matches this season shows that, in stark contrast to last season, the Reds have not let an unwanted kick-off time get in the way of a good result.
So far this season, Jurgen Klopp's side have played four matches that kicked off at 12.30pm or earlier and won the lot.
The first was against Burnley at Anfield in what was the maiden home game of the current campaign. Perhaps an exception to the rules usually applied to the lunchtime kick-off, this was the first capacity crowd to return to the famous old ground since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with fans delighted just to back inside the stadium. Diogo Jota gave Liverpool the lead with a glancing first half header, before Sadio Mane sealed the deal in the second half.
The Reds next early kick-off arrived on October 16, with a trip to Vicarage Road. Now under the guidance of Roy Hodgson, Watford will be hoping that there will be no repeat on Saturday of the 5-0 mauling that they were subjected to in the reverse fixture. A Roberto Firmino hat-trick, supplemented by a strike from Mane and an individual piece of brilliance from Mo Salah, moved The Reds to the top of the Premier League.
Jurgen Klopp's side would not play another lunchtime fixture until the FA Cup 4th round came calling on February 6, with a midday Sunday kick-off of the gift from TV for Liverpool and Cardiff City. Jota was back on the mark with another header, before new signing Luis Diaz made his Anfield bow as a second half substitute alongside the fit-again Harvey Elliott. Diaz would set up Takumi Minamino for Liverpool's second, but it was 18-year-old Elliott who stole the show with a stunning third goal to seal the win.
Fast forward to March 12 and The Reds' fourth lunchtime encounter for the cameras was served up at Brighton & Hove Albion's AMEX Stadium, where Liverpool could only manage a 1-1 draw last season. No such trouble this time around, although Diaz may have wondered if his goal was worth the effort after getting cleaned out by Seagulls 'keeper Robert Sanchez in the process. A Salah penalty secured a 2-0 win to maintain a 100% record in lunchtime kick-offs this season for Klopp and his team.
Such a record should instil confidence for the visit of the relegation-threatened Hornets on Saturday, but a glance back at the horrors of last season shows how different things were for Liverpool in the world of the mid-day kick off 12 months ago.
The Reds notched an emphatic 7-0 win against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in a 12.30pm kick-off on December 19, but that was as good as things got. It was their only lunchtime victory all season.
A 2-2 draw with Everton at Goodison Park on October 17 was best remembered for all the wrong reasons, with Virgil van Dijk suffering a season-ending injury. Mane and Salah were on target for the Reds and it could even have been a dramatic late away win, had Jordan Henderson's injury time finish not been ruled out by a contentious VAR offside call against Mane.
Another trip to Brighton on November 28 exposed Liverpool's new found knack for conceding late. Jota had given the Reds a second half lead but in the 93rd minute, Albion were awarded a penalty thanks to the intervention of VAR again, with Pascal Gross making no mistake from the spot.
If the rout of Palace in the December gave Kopites a break from the midday blues momentarily then they would return with interest on February 13, when Brendan Rodgers' Leicester City inflicted defeat on Klopp's side at the King Power Stadium. A fine Salah strike gave Liverpool the lead as late as the 67th minute, but it was all downhill from there. James Maddison drew the sides level with a free-kick, before calamity hit the Reds' defence.
On loan Ozan Kabak collided with Alisson Becker to let Jamie Vardy stroke the ball into an empty net before Harvey Barnes completed the mid-day misery for Liverpool.
Finally, a draw at home to Newcastle United was made to feel like a defeat by the sheer farcical manner in which it arrived. Another exquisite Salah strike gave the hosts an early lead, but as the game wore on, a shaky Liverpool did their very best to throw it away until they eventually succeeded.
Defending ever deeper in unusual scenes for a match at Anfield, Callum Wilson appeared to have snatched an injury-time equaliser for the Toon Army, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside by VAR. But having learnt absolutely nothing from that clear warning, Liverpool failed to clear their lines and with virtually the last kick of the match, Joe Willock fired home a sickening equaliser for Newcastle.
The end result was six lunchtime points from a possible 15 last season. Compare that to a maximum nine points from three Premier League matches plus an FA Cup win this season and the path to optimism ahead of Watford's trip to Merseyside looks clear.
The Reds have much bigger fish to fry than the Hornets during their eight matches in April, but a lunchtime victory on Saturday will ask the first question of Manchester City in this titanic battle for three trophies and must surely be the only thing on the Anfield menu.
