With five draws in their past seven matches Liverpool have arrived at the crux of their season. Burnley and Bayern Munich have to be overcome in the space of four days, with no room for further slip-ups if the club are to stay on course for silverware.
Jürgen Klopp was understandably disappointed that his side could not pick up more points in their games against Manchester United and Everton while Manchester City were returning to the top of the Premier League, though he argues Liverpool would have gladly accepted their present position at the start of the season.
“We are not in a negative situation,” he said. “We are in a very good position because it is a position that no one would have expected before the season. OK, we might have dreamed about it, but here we are fighting for the league title and it looks at the moment we have the chance if we can get back to winning games. Now we need to play the last nine [league] games with all we have.”
That will certainly be true against Burnley, for while a German manager might be expected to be more fearful of playing Bayern in Bavaria, Klopp holds Sunday’s opponents in the highest regard. “Everybody knows Burnley is tough; they are a real fighting unit,” he said. “They have big strong players up front who are good at winning the ball, and the rest of the players are good at getting it to them.
“It is an obvious plan but a very good one, because it is difficult to deal with. As a manager your job is to make the best of what you have and since I have been in England that is what Sean Dyche has been doing.
“The game we won at Burnley in December was a big one; we were a goal down and had to come back. And last season it was the game of the season for us when we won there in the New Year. They play an ‘English game’, I think. You have to be ready for a proper fight.”
A physical encounter at Anfield will not necessarily be the best preparation for a finely balanced Champions League tie, especially as Liverpool’s league game was moved to a Sunday whereas Bayern’s was not. “I don’t think anyone at the Premier League is interested in helping out teams in Europe, but we are not going to make excuses about that,” Klopp said.
“We accept the situation, we are going to do something a little bit different this time and train here on Tuesday morning before travelling, but it is not a problem. Playing Sunday and Tuesday would be a problem. Sunday-Wednesday could be better but we are not going to complain about it.”
Although Liverpool scored five goals in the intervening fixture against Watford, their inability to find a way through against Manchester United and Everton meant they lost ground in the league and Klopp was criticised after the last match for bringing James Milner on and leaving Xherdan Shaqiri on the bench. It turns out the player’s size is an issue against teams likely to send up the big men at set pieces, so the talented but undeniably short and squat Shaqiri had better not build his hopes too high for this afternoon.
“Shaq’s size is a big advantage in a lot of moments in his football life but in some situations it is not perfect,” Klopp said. “If you are defending set pieces it can be tricky to take off a player and from time to time that is a reason why someone does not come on.
“First and foremost, it depends on the situation in the game, it is not as simple as just sending on all your attacking players. We brought Shaq on against United but against Everton it was Adam Lallana. I could have brought him on against Watford but there was no need. At least he is available as an option; it is important to have the choice. The squad we have is what has brought us to where we are now and everyone has had an impact.”
