Football: Misfiring Liverpool set for 'massive' Spurs test, says Klopp
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Klopp knows another loss would be a huge blow to Liverpool’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Jurgen Klopp has urged Liverpool to be ready for a “massive” showdown with Tottenham on Sunday as his struggling side battle to save their season.
The Reds are languishing in midtable in the Premier League after a wretched run that includes successive defeats by struggling Leeds and Nottingham Forest in their past two top-flight matches.
They are eight points adrift of the top four and 10 behind third-placed Tottenham (26) ahead of this weekend’s vital clash in north London.
Klopp knows another loss would be a huge blow to the team’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
“Massive game and difficult as well, Spurs away,” he said on Friday. “I didn’t count the points distance between us and them but we have to go for it.
“We know it is difficult, we all know Tottenham is a side that is well-organised, defending at an extremely high level and counter-attacking is a massive thing.
“Spurs are in a good moment, turned their last two games around in the last minute and the last one was an extremely big one in the Champions League, so they are confident and strong.”
Despite their domestic woes, Liverpool are through to the last 16 of the Champions League, rounding off their group-stage campaign with a win over in-form Napoli in midweek.
That result served as proof for Klopp that his team are still capable of competing against top-quality opposition, although the German remains concerned about Liverpool’s defensive vulnerabilities.
“Our problem, why we changed system, one is the availability of players and the other is we were not as solid defensively,” he said.
“You can always point a finger at the things you don’t do well or you give a completely new textbook and that is what we tried. Our problem in these moments was defending as a unit.”
He also said Liverpool handled James Milner’s concussion injury correctly against Napoli.
Milner will miss the Tottenham game after being forced off early in the second half following a head injury before the interval.
Klopp said the necessary checks were made and it was only when Milner returned to the pitch after the break that he reported a problem and was taken off.
Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Arthur Melo, Naby Keita and Joel Matip remain sidelined with injuries.
In the Tottenham camp, South Korean superstar Son Heung-min has undergone a successful surgery following a facial injury, the country’s football federation said on Saturday, but declined to say if he would be ready for the World Cup in Qatar.
The forward suffered the nasty injury – reportedly multiple fractures to his eye socket – during the 2-1 Champions League win over Marseille in midweek.
Worried South Korean fans have since been waiting nervously for updates on Son’s condition, fearing their World Cup would be ruined without the talismanic national captain.
He dominated the sports pages of the country’s newspapers on Friday, including one that featured a detailed diagram of a human skull to show where he was injured.
“We’ve been informed by Spurs that the surgery went well and was successful,” a Korea Football Association official told AFP.
“We think it’s not the time to talk about Son’s status for the World Cup.
“We are not saying it’s impossible, we are just saying now is not the time to discuss.” AFP
