As we saw in this article, the last time before 2019-20 that Liverpool wore change socks with their first-choice shirt was in 2007-08 at Portsmouth:
However, twice already in the nascent campaign, they have done so – but the change has been to red socks.
We’ll forgive you if you’re confused. Basically, the primary home socks have a chunk of white from below the calf downwards.
These socks were worn in last Friday’s Premier League opener against Norwich City. It seems that the rationale for having them is rooted in this part of the Equipment section of The Laws of The Game:
However, it is a widely flouted rule – we can Nicklas Bendtner having to conform in 2010, but other examples are rare.
A perhaps unintended by-product of these new socks though is that they have been deemed to clash with opponents’ white socks – Manchester City in the Community Shield and Chelsea in Wednesday’s Uefa Supercup. As a result, Liverpool wore plain red socks for both games:
Or, at least, most of them did – Roberto Firmino wore the half-and-half socks with red tape applied while Jordan Henderson had white ankle socks (thanks to Jay from Design Football for making us aware of those examples).
It’s a similar situation to Arsenal in 2017-18. The Gunners’ first-choice socks were white with red and their change set were solid red but the home socks weren’t allowed to be worn against the red of CSKA Moscow, so a plain white style was used.
Liverpool have their first Premier League away game this weekend, with Southampton the opponents, so the new black third kit is likely to be used. The first time that we will see if the Premier League mandates a change against an opponent in white socks will be the trip to face Chelsea on September 22.
