Brendan Rodgers has suggested that Liverpool's fixture schedule could work against them when they face Manchester City this Sunday.

The Reds only arrived back from European travels in the early hours of Friday morning, having been sent out of the Europa League in the Last 32 stage at the hands of Besiktas.

Tolgay Arslan's late goal gave the Turkish side an equaliser on aggregate, but a penalty shoot-out was needed to split the two teams - and Dejan Lovren's miss meant Liverpool crashed out of the tournament.

But they did not have much time to dwell on the tiring loss, jetting off back to England just a number of hours after the full-time whistle. 

Rodgers, whose side take on City at 12pm on Sunday, has criticised their schedule - claiming it will not allow his side to fully recuperate from their mid-week travels, whilst the second-placed Premier League side have had an extra 48 hours worth of rest.

"It’s not ideal, especially if you don’t get help, and we’re on (TV) when we are in the early kick-off on Sunday," said the Northern Irishman.

"There wasn’t a great deal we could do about it. We’re just trying to manage the situation to try and get the result we need to get us through.

"That extra period of 48 hours that City will have could be crucial, certainly physically. We don’t get back until 3am so we will have very little preparation time. It’ll just be about recovery.

"We can’t train on the pitch at Anfield, we can’t make it any worse than it is, so we’re having to train in daylight hours, where we could have trained later in the evening at Anfield. That doesn’t help us either.

"It’ll be 3am when we get back," said Rodgers, whose side actually returned to home comforts 90 minutes later than expected. "The players will probably get home around 4.30am. Then we’ll aim to train and recover later that day.

"The key in it is the rest. At this stage of the season the physical condition of the players is there. What is vital is that sleep and rest.

"They will not rest much going back on the plane, with the adrenaline still flowing after a game. They will not sleep so well. Friday will be about rest. Then we prepare Saturday, game Sunday."

With the likes of Steven Gerrard (hamstring), Mamadou Sakho (hip), Glen Johnson (illness), Lucas Leiva (thigh), Jose Enrique (knee), Jon Flanagan (knee) and Lazar Markovic (suspended) all missing out on Thursday - Rodgers added that he had purposefully left out Philippe Coutinho on their trip to Turkey.

"I had to leave out young Coutinho. He didn't travel with us," said the Reds' boss.

"He’s an outstanding young player for us, a key player and he’s played a lot of games consecutively for us.

"This was a game that I’d earmarked to give him some recovery in knowing he can stay at home, not travel and prepare and get ready for the weekend.

With Manuel Pelligrini's side having had an extra 48 hours rest, after losing 2-1 at home to Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, Rodgers will be hoping to re-call on the services of Mamadou Sakho and Jordan Henderson to add some fresh legs.

"We’ve also picked up a few injuries – Jordan has a knock. The rest of the guys are either young or haven’t played a great deal.

"This phase of the season is very much a psychological aspect as well as physical, so I just try to prepare the players mentally for when you are coming into the business end, They will gain from the experience (of losing against Besiktas), and they will be ready for City."