Antonio Conte bemoans Chelsea's Premier League fixture list ahead of Qarabag and Liverpool trips

Antonio Conte has questioned the Premier League fixture list ahead of Chelsea's trips to Azerbaijan and then Liverpool in the coming week.

The Blues will play Qarabag away in the Champions League on Wednesday night local time before flying back to London and preparing to face Liverpool at Anfield three days later.

That Premier League fixture has been scheduled in for Saturday at 5.30pm at Anfield, but Chelsea will have to travel to Liverpool the day before - leaving Conte with just a day to help his players recover between the two trips.

Chelsea had little recovery time in late September when they arrived back from their Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid in Spain in the early hours of Thursday morning before playing league leaders Manchester City at Stamford Bridge the following Saturday - a game the Blues lost 1-0.

And Conte has said that having so little time to prepare for a big Premier League game following a European away fixture isn't "normal" and has questioned Chelsea's league timetable.

Speaking after the Blues's 4-0 victory away to West Brom on Saturday, the Italian said: "Now we have another problem.

"We play Qarabag on Wednesday, we get back to London at 5am or 6am on Thursday and then have a game against Liverpool on Saturday.

"Is this normal? I don’t think so.

"If people want more balance in this league they must pay great attention when preparing the fixtures."