Klopp talk about the title race ahead of the game against Spurs
Apr 2, 2016 at 11:32 AM
After the debacle of the second half at St Mary’s, Liverpool are back in action after a two week international break this weekend as they host Tottenham Hotspur in a crunch tie in the Barclays Premier League.
The Liverpool manager, talking ahead of this clash at Anfield urged his team to put the defeat against Southampton behind them and insisted that the game against Tottenham was important in the present moment.
“We could have won it, but we didn’t. So we don’t need to talk about this. Now it’s Tottenham,” Klopp said.
He added that it was important for the players to give their all in this weekend’s game as it was almost like a final for the visitors who have 5 points to cover over Leicester City in the title race.
Maybe for Tottenham it’s something like a final. They have to make pressure on Leicester,” he added.
The German national revealed that most of the players who were back from their national duty are fit to play this weekend.
He added that young forward Divock Origi, who withdrew from Belgium’s friendlies with a muscle problem is back in training and fit for this clash.
However, Klopp revealed that striker Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino are out of contention for this game. He did not report any other fresh injuries to the squad.
“Roberto Firmino will be close, completely different with Christian Benteke. For him no chance,” Klopp revealed.
The manager was also asked about star striker Daniel Sturridge and his situation with the national squad. Klopp felt that the stint with the national team was important for the player and that he hopes for him to be fit till the end of the season and help his team to a strong finish.
Klopp when asked about the title race in the Premier League this season said that he is not too interested in what the media writes and said that he is no position to comment on the situation at the White Hart Lane.
“We are not involved so I’m not that interested,” Klopp replied when asked about the EPL title race this season.
“Hopefully in future we can be a part of it,” he added.
He also spoke about the international break and the effect it will have on the squad. He revealed that the special training camp that he took his players on in the break helped them and that it also helped him to assess the potential of the squad for the future.
To wrap it off, Klopp was full of praises for Liverpool attacker Adam Lallana who had a good international break away with England. The manager felt that Lallana always had potential and that he was happy to see people recognizing it at the moment.
“I always knew how strong he is. I knew more about him when he played for Southampton,” Klopp added.