Klopp on title race, how Leeds "will eat you" and Jota & Firmino
- Published
Jurgen Klopp has been speaking to the media before Liverpool host Leeds United on Wednesday, looking for a win that would take them to within three points of Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Here are the key lines from the Reds boss:
Spurs were leading Man City 2-1 on Saturday when he got home and stopped following it, assuming City would equalise. When he went out later and his "very excited" driver told him it was 3-2, he assumed it was City who had won.
It would be a "completely different story" if City were still 12-15 points ahead but despite closing the gap to six, "nothing has changed". "We still have to win all our games because we expect City to win all theirs".
The Reds have to be "100% focused" on Leeds, who showed "all their faces" in their 4-2 defeat by Manchester United on Sunday.
"They are very brave and exciting offensively and defensively you can cause them problems, but it is difficult as well because with their man-marking all over the pitch, if you are not in the game, they will eat you."
Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino have "no chance" of playing against Leeds, and "we will see" later this week if they are available for Sunday's EFL Cup final against Chelsea. "They are not training so that is not a good sign."
Klopp says Leeds are top of three of the Premier League tables for running stats and "never give up", as they showed in their recent comeback from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Aston Villa, and from 2-0 down against Man Utd.
"We have to make sure we are really on it and give our absolute everything," he says. "If we not ready for a fight, we will suffer."
Klopp was "really pleased" for Joe Gomez after his performance against Norwich. He says if he was Gomez he would find it "really difficult" to deal with a lack of regular starts because of his quality, and praises the player's attitude to adversity as a "very good example." "Everyone likes Joey."
