Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has labelled Rangers as a 'dangerous' outfit ahead of their Champions League tie at Anfield on Tuesday evening.
Liverpool are suffering an uncharacteristically below-par season so far, taking just two wins from their opening seven games in the Premier League including dropped points to mid-table outfits such as Fulham, Crystal Palace, Brighton and Everton and a derby day loss to Manchester United. With another defeat against Napoli in the Champions League, the Reds have only won three games in all competitions all season - with fans beginning to become slightly restless at their slump.
Rangers on the other hand have started the season in decent fashion domestically, with just the one loss against Celtic thus far in the campaign - although their European exploits have let them down marginally. But against a team in disarray, Klopp has warned his team of becoming complacent despite being favourites, alongside praising the rise of Scottish football in the past five seasons. Record Sport takes a look at five talking points the German gave prior to the crunch clash on Merseyside.
Rangers Danger
Lauded as the minnows of the group, you cannot fault Rangers for their effort. Liverpool will obviously represent one of the biggest challenges of their European history so far, but never say never in terms of a result. The Reds went 68 games without a loss at home before that run amazingly ended against Burnley; anything is possible.
And Klopp acknowledged as such, labelling Rangers as a 'well coached' and 'dangerous' outfit who will fight until the very end for a result.
"Rangers are doing extremely well in generally. We expect they will really fight for a result. They are a good football team and well coached. They had an exceptional season in Europe last season and I saw the Hearts game. That's what we have to prepare for. We expect a proper fight, a real fight," he said.
"We need to defend consistently better. We need to attack consistently better. We expect a Rangers team that is really fighting for a result. They will be dangerous in any situation, even without our players being low in confidence."
Davies back at Anfield
With Liverpool having an injury crisis at centre-back two years ago, they turned to then-Preston defender Ben Davies as back-up for Nat Phillips, Rhys Williams and Ozan Kabak with their heavy hitters out.
As Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez came back into the fore, Davies was sent packing as surplus to requirements, eventually settling down at Rangers this summer in a deal that could reach £4million. And Klopp admitted his dismay that it didn't work out for the Barrow-born star - claiming that Davies is a 'good footballer'.
“He was out for seven weeks so the season is not much longer. He’s a new player coming into a new club. I watched the last three games so I’ve only seen him play 60 minutes. He’s a really good footballer. Good build, good footballer. In our situation it didn’t work out for him here but that doesn’t make him a bad player, not at all," Klopp admitted.
“Ben is a good boy and that’s what Rangers wanted and that’s what they got. They were looking for a left footed centre half and they got it. He can play different systems, which is important, as Rangers have played one and a half games using five at the back in the Champions League. Usually they don’t but he he can play both formations which makes him a really valuable option for a squad so I think they’re happy, but obviously not that he had been injured.”
Battle of Britain
We've already seen Scotland limit England to a draw at Euro 2020 and finish ahead of the Three Lions in the running for Nations League 1 football as Steve Clarke's men continue to stake their sensational claim as the UK's most successful nation on the international scene.
But with English sides having generally topped Scottish clubs on the continental stage, there is an added incentive for Rangers to beat Liverpool. Of course, they have beaten teams such as Leeds and Wolves in Europe before alongside holding Manchester United to a draw, whilst Celtic have triumphed over United and Liverpool this century.
But Liverpool haven’t played a Scottish team in the European Cup/Champions League since Aberdeen in 1980 and Klopp said facing new teams can be seen as 'pretty special'; adding to the value of the tournament as a result.
He continued: “I heard that it is four years that there is no games between Scottish and English teams. So, yes, that is pretty special. Unfortunately, apart from that I cannot say too much about the relationship, about what that means exactly. Nobody gave me a historical update.
"I know a few things obviously and that it might be very special for sure. But apart from that it is a normal Champions League game. But it is very nice. I actually think that it is very nice that we don’t play the same teams all the time. It is refreshing, it is great for Rangers, there will be a great atmosphere here, there will be a great atmosphere. Definitely, people should enjoy that and I hope they will be able to enjoy that."
Scottish football soaring
Even the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Calvin Ramsey from the current crop of Liverpool stars have plied their trade in the Premiership over the last decade, with other talents such as Kieran Tierney, Nathan Patterson and John McGinn moving down south relatively recently - and even when you consider foreign exports such as Odsonne Edouard and Kristoffer Ajer, the Scottish top-flight is not quite the 'pub league' that many below the border believe it to be.
A team with those players in would comfortably finish in the top-half of the division, and Klopp acknowledged the influence that Scottish football has undergone since Rangers' return to the top end of the Premiership table.
"It’s increased a lot. Rangers and Celtic are obviously the stand-out teams in the league, that’s not news, but how do they do in Europe and Rangers’ run in Europe last year was exceptional," he continued.
“The Dortmund game was just really good. Especially the home game you saw how the atmosphere can give you the edge in the game so it was really impressive. Celtic are doing really well and the Scotland game is full of talent. We have another Scottish boy in Calvin and another big talent in the under-18s (Ben Doak), so it’s a cool place to scout again.
“That’s a good sign for Scottish football. They may be a bit disappointed they’re not still in Scotland as if a player is really developing, it’s not unlikely that he at least give it a try in the Premier League. But it’s for sure a much better moment that four or five years ago and that’s down to the players."
Discussing dismal defending
Whilst Rangers may not be the most prolific team in European competition at the moment, they have flashes of brilliance that can easily result in goals more often than not.
Until not that long ago, Liverpool's defence could easily have been considered the best in the world - to the point where even scoring against Klopp's men despite defeat was an achievement in itself. But with just two wins in the league, and conceding a goal in all but two of their games in all competitions so far, the German understands there should be plans in place to avoid their current downfall.
He concluded: "You are right. We have conceded now similar goals like this where they go through the same gaps. The special problem that we have is that we have a very brave way of defending usually and when the timing in our defending is not perfect, we leave a gap open – that was always the case by the way.
"But the pressure remained on the boy on the ball, no one really recognised it. We closed it with intensity. If you don’t do that, this gap is open for a short moment and Brighton used it quite often, they passed the ball through our gap in between the lines where they could turn and this kind of thing, that make it tricky. We have to make it more compact. We have to improve it in our mind. We know that. Defending is an art. It worked for us really well and when it is not working out, you realise step by step how much you have to go back to the basics so you defend solidly again."
