'It's a crime': Liverpool boss Klopp slams festive schedule as teams set to play two games in three days

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has slammed the Premier League festive schedule, saying it is a 'crime' that teams are being made to play two games in the space of three days throughout the Christmas period.

Klopp's December schedule has been busy one and his side are being thrust back into Premier League action on Thursday, just days after their victorious Club World Cup campaign in Qatar.

The Reds travel to second-placed Leicester on Boxing Day ahead of a Sunday clash with Wolves at Anfield.

However, most other sides in the Premier League will have just one day off in between games - and Klopp has aired his grievances to the media about the overly-packed schedule.

"It's absolutely not OK," said Klopp, whose team will play nine games in December.

"And we still have it. None of the managers have a problem with matches on Boxing Day, but playing the 26th and 28th is a crime.

"We can say whatever we want and no one is really interested but every year it is the same for the coaches involved in it."

Liverpool's Club World Cup quarter-final was scheduled for one day after to a Carabao Cup game against Aston Villa, despite being thousands of miles away, forcing Liverpool to play a bare-bones side in the domestic cup competition. Aston Villa inflicted Liverpool's heaviest defeat of the season, winning by five unanswered goals.

"There is no reason to give teams less than 48 hours to play another Premier League game," he continued.

"Sports science doesn't give you something to deal with it. The body needs a specific amount of time to go again. It's easy. That's science. But you ignore that completely."

Another man angry at the congested period is Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola. His team face games on December 27 against Wolves and December 29 versus Sheffield United. 

Guardiola said he had written to Premier League bosses to "thank" them for the schedule.