Palace clash the start of serious business for Reds

JURGEN KLOPP has told his players every game is a cup final with their European hopes on the line in the season’s run-in.

The Kop manager takes his team to Crystal Palace today insisting it is a game that can have a massive influence on Liverpool’s top-four ambitions.

And with a mouthwatering Champions League double header up next, and a Mersey derby sandwiched in between, the German believes the Reds are facing a series of defining fixtures.

“We have only finals from now on,” said

Klopp (right). “We play Palace and, OK, maybe not a final but unbelievably important for both sides.

“Then it’s Man City, and of course Everton, unbelievably important because it’s a derby.

“As we have said, you create the basis for the final third of the season and I think we have done that.”

Klopp has defender Joe Gomez missing with injury, and a doubt over midfield star Emre Can with a back problem, but otherwise has a full squad to choose from for the visit to London.

And that is one of the reasons he believes his squad is in far better shape to face their ‘cup finals’ than at any point during his time at Anfield.

With such massive strength in depth, the Liverpool boss has been able to rotate his squad to keep players fresh and at less risk of injury, in stark contrast to last season when the club’s top-four hopes were almost derailed by injuries to key players like Sadio Mane, Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho.

“We are in a good position,” the German added.

“Our form wasn’t too great last season when we didn’t have players available.

“In a Premier League season you cannot train the players too hard. There is game after game that you must prepare for.

“It’s not like the late 80s when you let the players vomit on the pitch.

“The intensity of the games did cause us a few problems last season. But this season we have had the opportunity to change and rotate.

“In the next 10 days we have four games. We start tomorrow and then it’s bam-bam-bam so we need all the players for all the games. “The boys look good at the moment but that is the job we have, to get them to this point as fresh as possible.”

Liverpool beat Palace 1-0 at Anfield in their second League game of the season, when the Eagles were still managed by Frank de Boer.

But former Kop boss Roy Hodgson is now in charge at Selhurst Park and will be hoping his men can repeat their feat of three seasons ago when they beat Liverpool 3-1.

Last season they pulled off a shock 2-1 win at Anfield.

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