Having already seen one Premier League fixture postponed due to high winds, Liverpool could see a second match fall due to the weather on Sunday.
The league leaders are scheduled to face Manchester United in a 16:30 GMT kick-off.
However, snow fell on Merseyside overnight on Sunday. A significant amount of rain is set to follow.
HOW SEVERE WILL THE WEATHER BE?
An ‘amber’ weather warning is in place for the region:
The concern is likely as much the icy conditions as the amount of snowfall.
The Anfield pitch – unlike Burnley’s Turf Moor in 2021 – will be fine: undersoil heating and drainage will almost certainly see off whatever falls.
The decision will instead be based on conditions near the ground, ie how much it will affect supporter safety.
WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP?
Liverpool City Council’s safety advisory group met on Sunday morning to decide whether the match would go ahead or not.
They will reconvene again at midday to make a final decision.
However, the noises are fairly positive from Liverpool:
A safety meeting was held this morning to assess the weather and travel conditions for today’s fixture against Manchester United at Anfield.
At this stage the match is planned to go ahead as normal and every effort is being made to get the game on.
A further safety meeting…
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 5, 2025
WHICH MATCHES HAVE BEEN POSTPONED FOR SAFETY CONCERNS IN THE PAST?
Over the last decade or so, we’ve found four Premier League matches that have been postponed on safety grounds due to the weather – all in the north-west, coincidentally.
- Everton v Crystal Palace, February 2014
- Manchester City v Sunderland, February 2014
- Manchester City v West Ham United, February 2020
- Everton v Liverpool, December 2024
Storm Ciara saw off the Man City v West Ham fixture in 2020. Storm Darragh did likewise to the Merseyside derby last month.
Again, in 2014, it was high winds that forced the postponement of two top-flight matches.
The big freeze in January 2010 is perhaps a more pertinent example.
Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur was one of the games postponed, with the Reds issuing the following statement back then:
“Although the Anfield pitch is perfectly playable for the game, the problem we face is the icy condition of the approach roads and paths in the immediate vicinity of the stadium.
“The safety of our fans is paramount and an assessment of both the prevailing conditions and the weather forecast for the next 48 hours has been made in arriving at the decision to call off the match. Both local police and the City Council were fully involved in this assessment.”
We won’t have long to wait before finding out whether history repeats itself, 15 years on.
