Jürgen Klopp had one major theme when he met with the media ahead of Liverpool's Premier League tie with Leicester City at Anfield chasing down the top teams in the EPL table.
“We are in a chasing mood definitely,” Klopp said. “We have to be very uncomfortable for everybody who faces us, that's how it is. I liked the start a lot – I know the game at Aston Villa was a super-intense game – but I loved the start, our start into the game. You could see it was really different to a lot of games we played this season, very important, so that's what we need again, a high-energetic start and then we have to keep going through the game obviously.”
A Familiar Face
Leicester City is led by former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, who managed the Reds from 2012-2016. He is off to a slow start with the Foxes this season as they only have 5 wins on the year, but Klopp was very complimentary of his predecessor.
“Brendan is an outstanding manager,” he said. “Leicester have a lot of great, great players so they will try to do it completely differently against us and that's what we have to be really aware of.”
What Does The Fox Say?
Even though the Foxes have struggled so far this year, they have some talent. Their main offensive threat is midfielder James Maddison. He has a club-leading 7 goals on the year and his name is at the centre of transfer rumors to other EPL teams such as Arsenal. Unfortunately for Leicester, he was ruled out of the visiting lineup Thursday evening meaning the Foxes will have to rely on their defense. Welsh Keeper Danny Ward, who put on a strong showing for his National team at the World Cup, has also been strong for Leicester City between the pipes, posting 6 shutouts.
In For A Battle
In spite of the 3-1 victory over Aston Villa during the last match, Liverpool was tested for much of the 90 minutes. Klopp expects this match to be no different.
“I expect a tough game and I expect a reaction and I expect all these kinds of things that you would expect,” he said. “They changed the system during the (last) game, which makes it now a little bit tricky to prepare for a specific system. They played with five in the back, they played 4-2-3-1, in this game now changed to a diamond, which looked I think more stable in that moment. Will Brendan decide to do that again? I don't know.”
LFC Globe Verdict
Everything is setting up well for the Reds to make a run in the second have of the year and, on paper at least, a matchup with the struggling Foxes is just what Liverpool need to continue their push up the table. There are no fresh injuries to report and Cody Gakpo is waiting in the wings to make his Reds debut in the New Year. However, if there is anyone who knows how to win at Anfield, it's Brendan Rodgers as he did plenty of times as Liverpool's boss. I expect the Reds to win, but it will be closer than most people think with the Reds grinding out a 1-0 win.
Where To Watch:
Kickoff is set at 20:00 GMT and can be on Sky Sports. Supporters in the USA can stream the action on Paramount + while Canadian viewers can do the same via fuboTV.