Klopp hopes FA Cup revives spluttering Reds

LIVERPOOL: Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool will recover from a nightmare run at the start of 2017 when they face Championship club Wolves in the FA Cup fourth round at Anfield on Saturday.

A gruelling schedule of 10 fixtures, starting with the New Year’s Eve victory over Manchester City, has seen Liverpool collect only one other win, in the third round FA Cup replay at League Two Plymouth Argyle.

The latest setback, defeat in the League Cup semifinal against Southampton on Wednesday, removed one potential trophy from Klopp’s sights but the German insisted there would be no hangover from the two-legged defeat when they take on Wolves.

“No. Absolutely not,” said Klopp. “If we doubt the way we are after the little problems we’ve had now, it would be a really strange thing.

“We don’t have the points we want. We don’t have the results we want. That’s not a problem. That’s how it is.

“But we know what we have to do. We know what we want to do. We know about the football we want to play, so that’s all good.”

Liverpool have won English football’s most prestigious cup competition seven times, but the last success came 11 years ago, and Klopp is likely to persist with his strategy of rotating his squad for cup fixtures.

A number of young, emerging players are in contention, alongside fringe veterans such as Brazilian Lucas Leiva. Klopp must also weigh up whether to use Brazilian star Philippe Coutinho, who started in the Plymouth replay, in the week that the forward signed a new five-year deal that makes him the highest-paid player in Liverpool history.