Phil Thompson and Jeff Stelling disagree over Liverpool competing at the Club World Cup

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After winning the Champions League in June, Liverpool will be hoping to add the Club World Cup to their trophy cabinet this season.

Phil Thompson thinks that Liverpool potentially winning the Club World Cup next month in Qatar would be ‘huge’ for the club and a ‘feather in our cap’.

It is a claim that was dismissed by Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling, who thinks that the former Liverpool defender is having a ‘laugh’ with his comments, as he believes that not many people ‘care a jot’ about the Club World Cup in this country.

Liverpool are set for a fixture pile-up in these coming weeks, with as things stand, their League Cup quarter-final clash against Aston Villa set to take place on December 17 – one day before Jurgen Klopp’s side are supposed to be in Qatar for the Club World Cup.

Of course, something will change in regards to that schedule and some space will be found for the League Cup match, but as Klopp has done throughout the competition, he will play his youngsters in the EFL Cup.

Speaking to Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports (02/11/2019 at 2:45 pm), Liverpool legend Thompson didn’t like the idea that the club is better off sending the youngsters to Qatar instead.

“Wouldn’t you send a young team to the Club World Club, wouldn’t you, which matters not one jot to people in this country,” Stelling asked Thomspon on Soccer Saturday.

“Didn’t you just hear what I said? We haven’t won it. And it’d be a big feather in our cap by winning the World Cup championships,” Thompson responded.

Stelling added: “A feather?! What sort of feather would it be in your cap? You are having a laugh.” Thompson then responded by saying: “Jeff, it’ll be huge. I am certainly not [having a laugh]. You ask any other player or anyone else at our football club.”

Winning the Club World Cup is a unique opportunity, as not many clubs have done it. Manchester United famously once pulled out of the FA Cup in order to compete in the competition when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge of the club.

Now, that is not expected to happen with Liverpool, but it has left their fixture list pretty congested during a time of the year when the footballing calendar is already hectic.

Nonetheless, Liverpool’s two main focusses this season will be the Premier League – which they lead at this moment in time – and defending their European Cup.