Klopp vows to fight on
Leipzig won't take sliding Reds for granted as Europe is their sole realistic means of success
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Mohamed Salah scored Liverpool's only goal in both their last two league losses to Manchester City and Leicester, and manager Jurgen Klopp will be hoping he will be on target again while they keep Leipzig quiet at the other end.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON • A bad result in Hungary may mean Liverpool's season could effectively be over by today.
Their Premier League title defence is hanging by a thread with Manchester City in front by 13 points and the gap will stretch to 16 if they beat Everton tomorrow.
There will still be another last-16 Champions League leg next month but with the Reds in a slump after three straight top-flight losses, the knives are out for Jurgen Klopp.
In contrast, Leipzig are second in the Bundesliga behind world champions Bayern Munich after winning their last three league games and are in the hunt for their first German league title with only four points separating the sides.
But despite heavy criticism from pundits, Liverpool fans have given Klopp their full support.
Social media speculation that the German could walk away was dismissed by the Reds manager, who thanked the supporters after they placed a banner reading "YNWA (You'll Never Walk Alone) Jurgen" outside Anfield over the weekend.
At his pre-match press conference, Klopp also insisted he still had the energy to turn around the English champions' season.
"There's no truth in it (rumours about his departure). I might not look like this, my beard gets more and more grey, but I am full of energy," he said.
"The situation is a challenge, an interesting challenge. We will sort it. We will sort it by playing football, by being even more together, by learning more than you can learn in each season we played before."
Top scorer Mohamed Salah also echoed his boss' thoughts, saying on social media: "It's been a tough period for many reasons.
"We are champions and we will fight like champions, until the very end. We will not allow this season to be defined by the recent results we've had. That is my promise to all of you."
One advantage Klopp's side have is that the first leg will not be held in Leipzig and has instead been moved to Budapest as a result of Covid-19 travel restrictions between Germany and Britain.
However, the Reds' injury crisis remains at a critical level - Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip are out for the long term - while Diogo Jota, Naby Keita and Divock Origi are also on the sidelines.
There are also major doubts over Fabinho, missing for their past five games, James Milner, new face Ben Davies and Caoimhin Kelleher.
As such, some critics have tagged Leipzig as favourites today but coach Julian Nagelsmann is refusing to read too much into Liverpool's poor run of results, with just three wins out of their last 12 games in all competitions.
He is considered to be one of the hottest young coaches in Europe, leading Leipzig to their first Champions League semi-final appearance last season.
The 33-year-old has been tipped for a Premier League job in the near future and Klopp is also a big admirer of his compatriot, calling him an "extraordinary talent".
Nagelsmann will further burnish his reputation should he mastermind Liverpool's exit but he remains wary of the talent they still have at their disposal despite all their injuries.
"They don't have the results crisis in the Champions League, but in the Premier League," the German, who revealed that Swedish playmaker Emil Forsberg would not recover from his knee injury in time, said yesterday.
"They have crossed off the (Premier League) title and their focus is now only on the Champions League. They will try to shake off the negative things.
"A lot depends on the form of the day. We know that Liverpool still are a very good team with world-class players. It is always difficult to defend against them."
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