Liverpool over Worst of Fixture Congestion After Exhaustion Shows vs. Blackburn

Taken in isolation, Liverpool's result and performance in their 0-0 draw with Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup quarterfinal at Anfield on Sunday was very disappointing.

However, given the context of the match being the Reds' third in eight days, and their 32nd game in 105 days, such an outcome can be forgiven.

The Reds went every week in February with a midweek game, the last of which took place in Turkey and saw the squad return back to Merseyside at 4 a.m. on the Friday. They then played—at a very high tempo—against champions Manchester City on the Sunday a week prior to the Blackburn match.

Indeed, this is now only the second time since the last international break in November that Liverpool haven't had a midweek match to contend with—the other being in mid January.

Since then they've faced Chelsea home and away in the League Cup semi-final, a fifth-round replay at Bolton, plus the Europa League ties with Besiktas.

This isn't making excuses, it's simply contextualising why Liverpool were too slow and tepid against mid-table Championship opposition on Sunday afternoon.

Only Tottenham have had such a similarly busy fixture list. Chelsea and Man City were knocked out the FA Cup, and Champions League games are two weeks apart.

With Liverpool's next fixture, away to Swansea City, on Monday evening, Brendan Rodgers has the rare luxury of eight days between games for the first time since November.

More importantly, the players have eight days to rest and recover both mentally and physically, with two days off after the Blackburn match being very welcome.

Injuries

Injuries too have impacted the Liverpool squad. Up until Blackburn, those injuries had been dealt with very well.

Lucas Leiva and Steven Gerrard have been sidelined for a month, but Joe Allen has stepped up in their absence in midfield.

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However, Allen suffering an injury in training meant a reshuffle with Emre Can moving to partner Jordan Henderson in midfield and Glen Johnson replacing Can in defence. Such a chance to upset the balance of the side.

Then there was Martin Skrtel's early injury, which didn't directly influence the performance as Kolo Toure filled in perfectly fine, but it did mean Rodgers had one less sub to manoeuvre with.

Jordon Ibe came into the squad and was an upgrade on Lazar Markovic in the right wing-back role, but he too is now sidelined and Markovic continues to struggle for consistency in the wide role.

Daniel Sturridge is back from injury but still looks well short of match sharpness. Think of a player during pre-season and you see that with Sturridge but in top-level games attempting to find fitness.

Rodgers

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Speaking after the match, Rodgers said (via This Is Anfield):

"

The last three months we have been in outstanding form and the physical and mental energy we put into games is at such a high level. Today we just lacked that bit of sharpness physically. You want to try and grind your way through the game. We did that.

There is a physical energy in how we play and it is natural sometimes there will be a little bit of cost and that affected the speed of our play.

"

The reactionary football fan may see that as making excuses for a poor performance, but given the aforementioned fixtures over these past three months, it's actually a very reasonable explanation.

Footballers are human, these performances and results happen, especially on the back of such an exhausting 10 days.

Bigger Picture

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While Liverpool's management, players and supporters alike would prefer not to have been facing a replay against Blackburn, they'd have taken that and six points from Man City and Burnley had they been given the option when they flew back from Turkey after being eliminated from the Europa League.

We all saw the benefits of Liverpool having a less congested fixture list last season and from here to the end of the campaign that's very much the case, even with the replay date yet to be confirmed.

At the moment, Rodgers' side have 12 games scheduled between now and the final game of the Premier League season at Stoke City on May 24th. There's a potential FA Cup semi-final to add in there, but that's 12 (or 13) games in 76 days.

Compared to the aforementioned 32 games in 105 days, that's a game on average every six days compared to every three days since November.

One poor result should not blot what has been a productive run for Liverpool and the rest ahead of the business end of the season will now serve them well.