Having booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday night, the Reds resume their Premier League campaign at Anfield looking for a 16th win of the season.
The visitors sit bottom of the table ahead of the game, but Klopp has used his matchday programme notes to warn that staff, players and supporters must hit their top level again to maintain the team’s momentum.
“I love that my players embrace their responsibility as professionals,” writes the boss, who agreed a new LFC contract until 2024 on Friday.
“I see it day in and day out. The respect they show their work is so high. The standards they set of themselves could not be greater. They are their harshest judge and jury.
“This is a group of players who have tunnel vision and it’s always centred on the next challenge. They play each match with the attitude of it being the only thing that matters in that moment.
“Of course, we all know at some point this season we will have a setback. We don’t think it will be nine months of sunlight and warmth. Clouds will come and in those moments we will need to be ready to react.
“We have seen it already in games this season. We do not sail always on calm waters, despite our results. We have taken some big punches and kept moving forward. If at any point we are knocked to the canvas, I know we will get back on our feet well before the 10 count is done – and I also know we will be ready to come out swinging. This is us. This is what we do.
“This season, like all at this level, is a fight. It is not a party. It is intense. It is constant. It is a challenge. It is work. It is work we love and work that fulfils us.
“It is absolutely OK for the supporters to embrace the joy and it is fantastic to see how much they love what we do. But they also are well-educated and they know we are not in a scenario where we can afford to stop and feel any sense of accomplishment. If we fell into that trap – as a team, supporters or club – we achieve nothing.
“So for the supporters I say: let’s keep going. Together – this collective force. We focus all we have on today and facing a really tough opponent whom we respect.
“All of us – every single person in Anfield with a Liverpool heart beating in their chests – has to turn up today with the attitude of giving all we have for this 90-plus minutes. Leave nothing in the locker, make it our best day. I know we can do this.”
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