'An absolutely top team' - the boss on facing Wolves
Jürgen Klopp expects both Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers to be unpredictable when the sides meet in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Reds claimed two hard-fought victories over Wolves in the top flight last season as a 1-0 win at Anfield was followed up by a 2-1 result on their visit to Molineux.
Klopp outlined his respect for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team during his pre-match press conference and explained why he expects a ‘tricky’ test this weekend.
Asked about being an admirer of Wolves, Klopp said: “I am because it’s just good and when you play them, they don’t play like seventh in the league, they play like an absolutely top team.
“They had, especially last year, the Europa League to deal with and they did exceptionally well, to be honest. They played well there and that’s a really tough task after getting promoted only a year before that.
“So, absolutely outstanding, Nuno is doing an exceptional job. Top, top recruitment, quite a few players from Portugal, it’s clear, with all the people working there at the club. Top, top players. Yeah, nothing bad to say about them.
“Now they changed system slightly, not sure if they will play against us like this, that makes it even more tricky, that you don’t know exactly what they will do. They don’t know exactly what we will do, which is good. So, same situation – let’s play the game.”
A five-day gap between the Champions League victory over AFC Ajax and the clash with Wolves provides Liverpool with increased recovery and preparation time – a scenario naturally welcomed by the manager.
“It will be a huge game. It was great and necessary as well. We don’t have four days off, by the way, we just don’t play,” he said.
“But in our normal weeks we would play today. I sit here and I feel pretty good, but I’m very happy that we don’t have to play today, to be honest. We have now two days again to prepare and that’s what we will do.
“You saw it in games or whatever, days off for players are rare but very important. Most of the time we cannot give it but we try to squeeze out everything we can and that’s what we did this time as well. I was really pleased about the opportunity.”