Liverpool will host rivals Tottenham it is a must win match for the Red as they look to retain the top four spot where they slipped off to 5th position in the League following a 2-0 lost to relegation threatened Hull City.
Liverpool are 13 points behind league leader chelsea and it looks like the chase of winning the league has come to an end. But Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insisted he's confident that his team can still turn the table round with the visit of the team that has taken its second position on the League table.
“Not flying doesn’t mean you cannot win the next game,” he said in his pre-match press conference. “It’s pretty much more difficult to convince people of the fact we can win against Tottenham, but that’s the situation and it changes nothing.
“If you are in a wonderful position, then you have to make sure that you stay in this situation. If you are not in this situation, then you have to make sure that you solve all the problems immediately.”
The new year have seen Liverpool fumbled from good to bad meanwhile Tottenham have soared winning four of its six games and drawing the other two, the London side has taken 11 more points than the Merseysiders over the same period. That run has established Mauricio Pochettino’s side as the closest challengers to pace-setter Chelsea.
However, with a nine-point gap still in place between the clubs, Pochettino was well aware that every point was vital.
“It will be an important game and if we are capable of winning and achieving the three points it will be important for us to keep our position in the table and try to put pressure on Chelsea,” he said Friday. “It’s true that it’s not a decisive game but it’s a very important game.”
Pochettino will be without a host of first-team players for the trip to White Hart Lane, with Danny Rose, Jan Vertonghen, Erik Lamela and Kieran Trippier all unavailable.
Klopp also has injury concerns. As well as waiting on the fitness of Dejan Lovren and the recovery from an illness of fellow center-back Ragnar Klavan, Adam Lallana was nursing an Achilles injury.
Klopp said: “Adam Lallana was out for two days with a little problem with the Achilles, “We have to see. He’s willing and we want, for sure, to try that he can train today and then he is available for tomorrow, because it was only two days.”
Kickoff Time: 18:30 GMT+1
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