Robbie Walls
Jurgen Klopp has insisted that his Liverpool side will be up for the fight ahead of their clash with Manchester United in the FA Cup on Sunday.
The two teams will be facing off for the second time in the space of a week, after the two rivals played out a fairly drab goalless draw at Anfield in the Premier League last weekend.
That result was a fourth game in a row without a win for the champions, with that run then extended in midweek as the Reds immense home record came to an end, their defeat at the hands of Burnley their first loss at home in 68 games.
With only one goal scored in their last five, the signs are that Klopp’s men are just beginning to falter at the midway stage of the season, with their defensive injuries in particular seemingly having a major impact on their performances.
With a huge game against league leaders Manchester United to come at Old Trafford on Sunday in the FA Cup fourth round, Klopp revealed that his side are ready to ‘fight’ to get their season back on track.
“When you had the success we had, there are two directions: one is you keep going exactly on the same level, which is difficult with the challenges we have around. And the other one, it gets a little bit less. In the moment it feels like it’s a lot less and that’s what we of course have to change,” Klopp told his pre-match press conference.
“We are not like this that we think just because we try we should get everything. We are really ready for the fight, we are ready for the battle, 100 per cent. But in the moment we didn’t use the right tools, that’s true as well and that’s what we absolutely have to adjust and to improve. And that’s what we do.
“The only problem is the tests we face are constantly public and on television. That means everybody watches each little step in whichever direction; that’s obviously very nice when you have a good run and when you have not that good a run it’s not exactly the same, there’s not the same enjoyment. But anyway, it’s the thing to do.
“I’m not in doubt about us as a group, not at all. But these moments you need the group to come closer together and do the right things – and that’s what we do.
Read – Klopp Killers: The only five away managers to win at Anfield in the Jurgen Klopp era
Read Also – Man Utd v Liverpool: The most famous cup meetings between the hated rivals