[ad_1]
The Reds coach says his players should be prepared for an intense challenge against Pep Guardiola’s team at the Etihad on Sunday
Jurgen Klopp says it will take courage and an “almost perfect organization” if Liverpool are to make a positive result at Manchester City on Sunday.
The Reds travel to the Etihad knowing that victory would take them eight points away from one of their main title rivals – a significant gap even at this early stage of the campaign.
A City victory, however, would move Pep Guardiola’s men to two points behind the champions with one game less.
City won 4-0 when the teams last met in July, shortly after Liverpool were crowned league champions, and Klopp believes the match is the perfect example of what can happen if his team is missing. fully prepared for the challenge.
“If you are not 100% focused on the game against City, you will lose a lot!” told reporters. “I’m not sure I need that game as proof, but that’s 100% of the case.
“It was the first time we had won the league so I had no idea how to prepare for the next game to be honest. I didn’t want to exaggerate like ‘guys forget what happened three days ago, now let’s show the whole world against City’ blah blah blah.
“I know my guys wanted to win that game, but we weren’t as focused as we usually are in these games. We kept playing good football that night, but unfortunately we didn’t score and they scored four times.
“But let me put it that way, it wasn’t the hardest defeat of my life.”
Klopp’s overall record against Guardiola is good. In fact, of all the coaches who have faced the Catalan six or more times, the Reds coach is the only one who has won more games than he has lost, a record that he will maintain if his team avoids defeat this weekend. week.
“We should meet a lot more often, huh?” he joked before adding, “No, I’m glad we didn’t, to be honest!
“I am not aware of the records, but I know that we meet from time to time and that we did not lose every game. But I know that every game was incredibly difficult, incredibly difficult. They are very intense, and that is the only thing that worries me, not how we played in the last games.
“We need to be prepared to compete in this game, and for that you need to have a near perfect organization, and you need to be really brave, play your own football and cause problems for them too.
“It sounds so easy, it’s not rocket science, but it’s still so difficult because they put you under enormous pressure.
“But we can also do that. It’s always an interesting match and hopefully it will be on Sunday too, because that will mean we’ve been good! That is the first step in the right direction. “
Klopp will likely remember Joel Matip in his starting lineup, and the Cameroonian international is expected to join Joe Gomez as a central defender.
He also faces a decision in attack, with Diogo Jota pressing hard to start after his Champions League hat-trick against Atalanta midweek.
Roberto Firmino stayed on the bench for that game, but could be returned against City, either in place of Jota or as well.
Thiago Alcantara will miss the game with a knee injury and will join Fabinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Virgil van Dijk on the bench.
