'We have to use the circumstances and play our best football'

More than three months after their last competitive fixture, the Reds resume the campaign – which was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic – with the 236th Merseyside derby.

It’s a much-anticipated match that will look and feel very different, with the remaining nine games this term to be played behind closed doors.

But with the knowledge that six points are required to clinch the club’s first league title in 30 years, Klopp explained his side are ready to ‘go for it’.

“We know for a while already that we have no supporters. I answered that question pretty much every day, but my answer cannot change. It’s all different but we cannot change that,” he said at his pre-match press conference.

“So we have to use the circumstances, not suffer from that. That means there’s a game between Everton and Liverpool, which is still a derby and important for both teams for different reasons. That’s what we are looking forward to.

“That the circumstances are like they are, we tried to get used to during the training period in the last four weeks, with playing one proper test game against Blackburn and two internal. And it looked like football, that’s very important.

“When we all started playing football [as children] it was without a crowd. When we play today, if I play from time to time – it’s not really often – it’s without a crowd [and] I still want to win. That’s exactly how it is.

“It’s not the perfect situation but it’s as good as possible, so that’s what we are preparing for. I will not miss it during the game because I know already it’s not there. But I’m really looking forward to it when the crowd will be back, I can tell you.”

Asked if there was a time during the suspension when he thought Liverpool might not have the chance to conclude the season on the pitch, Klopp responded: “Honestly, yes.

“When we went to lockdown I didn’t think about it for a second, like, ‘Oh my God, that’s now a season where we are so close.’ Not for a second, because that was not important in that moment.

“I became worried in the moment when people started talking about null and void the season, because it was like, ‘Wow!’ And I really felt it physically. That would have been really, really, really hard.

“We don’t expect to get it as a present, so we didn’t want to have it on a points per game thing. So we were really happy when it was decided we can play again.

“But there were moments – you know how long the discussions were – [when] some people brought it up from time to time, for different reasons. When that was off the table then I felt quite relieved.

“Now we are here. If they would have done points per game and we couldn’t have played, we probably would now be champions. Now we aren’t, we have to play for it – that’s great, that’s how it should be in sports. And now we go for it. That’s it.

“We don’t think in our minds that we are already nearly there or whatever. We know the situation in the table, but we saw [Manchester] City playing, we see all the other teams.

“We needed a lot of work to come where we were in the season, but we needed luck as well, that’s how it always is. That’s what we need again, because it will be tough – the toughest of the toughest – the next few weeks.

“I hope I can enjoy it; that’s the plan actually, hard work was never a problem to us. But we need to make sure we really play again the best football we are able to play. Then we will be fine and we’ll see what we have to celebrate, and how we can celebrate. But these things are only important in the moment when it has then finally happened, and not before.”

Liverpool were beaten in four of their six games immediately before play was paused in mid-March.

It was a run that saw the Reds’ defence of the Champions League end against Atletico Madrid, their FA Cup hopes halted by Chelsea and their unbeaten Premier League run stopped at Watford.

But Klopp does not consider those results to have any influence on preparations for the campaign’s resumption – generally, or specifically for Sunday’s trip to Everton.

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“Thank you for reminding me! I didn’t know that actually,” began his reply to the query.

“But we didn’t speak about it one time during our pre-season here. It’s not about that. If you don’t have the results you want to have, there are plenty of reasons usually for it – and the intensity of a season is always one part of it.

“We don’t use the form of Everton that they had before the lockdown, and our shape in that moment had no influence really. I know a lot of people said [about] the Atletico game – we lost it obviously but from a performance point of view, I was really happy with that game, to be honest.

“We showed a lot of these situations, not that we didn’t score goals or that we conceded goals, but in between these two big moments there was a lot we can use for the rest of the season because it was really good against a top side.

“So, it’s not important. It’s like if you would ask me when we start the new season about a game we had against a team the November before. It’s just not important, it’s all about now. It’s all about the momentum and where we are.

“We tried to make sure we are in as good a shape as possible. One thing for sure changed: our last four weeks were not as intense as the 10 or 12 weeks before lockdown, which were the most intense in our lives probably, from a football point of view.

“The boys were rested when they arrived here. They had a lot of things to do during lockdown, training-wise and all those things, that’s clear. But getting used to football is something different, so we had a lot of things to do in the last four weeks.

“We did that and we are in the best possible shape – we don’t know, it’s probably not our 100 per cent, I don’t know. But Everton had the same time, not more, not less. So nothing to do with shape.

“It’s all about being ready for facing problems in a football game, finding solutions. My job is to prepare as many solutions as possible. And, like always, the players have to pick them – in the best way, instinctively. That would be great, then we would have a good game.

“Everton will be highly motivated. Starting with a derby in a normal season would already be really interesting, and now it’s our short season and it’s very interesting. It’s a special game for different reasons. We try to do our best and we’ll see what we get for it.”