Jürgen: It's proper work when you face Burnley
Liverpool will need 'freshness in mind and in legs' to break down Burnley when the sides meet in the Premier League on Saturday, according to Jürgen Klopp.
The Reds fought two tough battles with the Clarets last term, suffering a 2-0 defeat in a game they dominated at Turf Moor and coming from a goal down to win 2-1 at Anfield.
Ahead of their latest contest this weekend, Klopp shared his appreciation for the committed plan deployed and carried out by Sean Dyche and his group of players in each and every fixture.
With the knowledge of Burnley’s tactics in mind, the manager warned that Liverpool must be ready for ‘proper work’ if they want three points.
Asked about the visitors’ start to the season, he told reporters: “It’s good for Burnley, but also good for all the people around.
“Yes, they won against Chelsea, who were one man down but that doesn’t mean too much against Chelsea. They came up in the last few minutes but Burnley played really well and used their chances.
“What I really like is what Sean Dyche is doing there; they have a clear plan, 100 per cent. You can see it and you can see it and you can see it in each game.
“They don’t make one step left or right, they stick to the plan and that’s so clear and is so difficult to play because all these players show big desire to defend all the situations. There is not one player in the team who you think ‘OK, he gambles a little bit in this or that situation’. That’s a big strength of Sean, 100 per cent.
“It’s good that everybody knows they had two away games and in these two away games they got four points from Chelsea and from Tottenham. Nobody should think tomorrow is an easy game for us.”
Liverpool come into the match – their third in eight days – on the back of a heavy defeat at Manchester City and a 2-2 draw with Sevilla in the Champions League.
Burnley will pay no mind to the Reds’ preceding exertions, of course, and Klopp admitted that influences his own team selection and game plan.
“That’s something I have to consider when I think about a line-up – we need freshness in mind and in legs for this game,” the German added.
“There will be really small spaces. There are not a lot of easy situations where you can outplay them or whatever. That’s proper work; shooting in the right moments, passing in the right moments, crossing in the right spaces and all that stuff.
“It’s really interesting to play them because they are always on a really high level since I’ve known them. Maybe the best game we played against them was the first game when we lost 2-0. We were really strong in this game. We had shooting opportunities, we had the ball all the time, but they still scored twice and we didn’t score.
“But it’s not that we think about these games. We made a big step in all the areas you need for these games. But it’s difficult, everybody should know about this. If we are all ready for work then it can be really good.”