LONDON − Jurgen Klopp said yesterday that Liverpool are aiming to be as “annoying as possible” as they hunt down Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
City’s goalless draw at Crystal Palace on Monday means Klopp’s side can close the gap to a single point with victory at in-form Arsenal today, with a trip to the Etihad still to come.
In the 2018/19 season, Liverpool won their final nine league matches only for Pep Guardiola’s team to reel off 14 successive victories to finish top by a point.
Klopp said his team, who have already won the League Cup this season and are still in the Champions League and the FA Cup, were determined to push City all the way.
“That is the plan, of course, that we keep being as annoying as possible but we have to win our football games,” said the German manager.
He said there were some “really tough” games to come in the ten remaining league fixtures − starting with the match at the Emirates today.
Klopp said Liverpool, who have won their past eight Premier League games, had to be prepared for a “long finish” to the season due to their success across four competitions.
“It’s final after final after final after final after final what we play, pretty much,” he said. “That’s how it is, that’s how we prepare, that’s how we set it up, that’s the situation. So, what kind of different situation could there be out there? That we are ten points ahead or whatever?
“Then it’s like ten games to go and everybody tells you, ‘It’s (done) already, when will the celebrations be?’ It’s really uncomfortable, not that it happened often in my life, to sit in that situation. So now everything is in front of us − attack it, chase it, go for it, that’s what we do.”
Mohamed Salah is likely to be available to face Arsenal after a foot injury forced him off during Saturday’s 2-0 win over Brighton.
“Mo is a tough cookie and he was only a little bit cut, we were quite lucky with it. It was swollen, painful − yesterday a little less swollen, less painful,” added Klopp.
“Now I got the message before the press conference that Mo is ready to train and we will see how that looks.” – AFP, March 16, 2022
