'We have to stay positive in a game whatever happens'
Jürgen Klopp does not expect Liverpool’s Carabao Cup tie with Leicester City to have much bearing on Saturday’s Premier League meeting, but the boss has acknowledged the need for his side to learn to ‘stay positive in a game whatever happens’.
The Reds will return to the King Power Stadium just four days after losing 2-0 there in the third round of the League Cup - a game that saw both Klopp and his Foxes counterpart Craig Shakespeare rotate their teams.
A failure to make their first-half dominance show on the scoreboard cost Liverpool dearly, with Leicester netting twice after the break to secure their place in the fourth round.
However, Klopp expects Saturday’s match to unfold differently due, primarily, to the expected changes in personnel on both sides.
“I think both teams will not think too much about this game because there will be different line-ups for sure, on both sides obviously,” the manager said at Thursday’s press conference.
“I think Leicester has a typical style of play. They couldn’t play like this [on Tuesday] because Jamie Vardy is a pretty key player for this kind of play and also Mahrez is a key player for this. Both were not involved so that means it was different, but we know of course how Leicester play usually.
“A lot of things will be the same and a few things will be different. It’s all about being really quick and after they win the ball they are really quick and pass it in behind. They go for set-pieces, Fuchs will be back probably so that means throw-ins are back in the game and all that stuff.
“So we know about it. We did well in games and we did not so good in games against these things.”
Despite the disappointment of ultimately being knocked out of the tournament, Klopp was satisfied with Liverpool’s display before Shinji Okazaki's opening goal on Tuesday and urged his players to remain upbeat regardless of events within matches.
He continued: “I thought, and that’s the main thing, that we showed again good shape [on Tuesday]. Yes, we need to involve this kind of very useful aggression, we need to involve the greed, we need to involve the real fight for the result and even when we are 1-0 down.
“With that many changes you cannot always expect everything but of course 1-0 is not a result which closes the game - if we’re in a 1-0 lead it’s not the close and the other way around it’s the same. But after 1-0 the game changed for Leicester, that’s how it is.
“It’s not a big problem usually if you concede a goal if you go on playing like we did before, when we could also have scored, but in this moment it changed the game.
“We all have to fight for this - staying positive in a game whatever happens, that’s how it is.
“In the beginning it was so nice, how fluent we are, how creative we are and how we are still fluent and still creative but we don’t score, so it’s a big problem.
“For me, it’s important that I can help the players with staying really positive about this, plus changing the right things, plus including the right things. We are still in a good moment but of course it’s the Premier League again and we need results and that’s what we want to go for.”