Klopp urges Liverpool to keep pressure on
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp urged his team to keep the pressure on their Premier League rivals in the last two games of the season as they make a late charge for a topfour finish.
Liverpool secured Europa League football for next season after Monday’s 3-0 win at Leicester City and sit one point behind fourth-placed Manchester United and third-placed Newcastle United, though both teams have a game in hand.
Klopp, whose side are now on a seven-game winning streak, said six weeks ago he had doubts about their chances of playing in Europe next season.
“I didn’t believe it can happen,” Klopp told reporters.
“What we lacked that time was obviously consistency and there was only one chance for us to get in these situations — winning pretty much all the football games.
“All the rest is not in our own hands but we know we have to win all the games until the end of the season to have a chance.
“You wish anyway that the opponent was just losing and you have that kind of pressure off your shoulder. Our job is to keep the pressure.”
Liverpool host Aston Villa on Saturday before a trip for their final match to Southampton, whose relegation has been confirmed.
Leicester have only taken two points from their last four games. With a trip to high-flying Newcastle United and a home game against West Ham United to come, time is running out for the 2016 champions to retain their Premier League status.
“We look at the results and we’ve lost too many games and other teams have been better, it’s as simple as that,” a dejected Evans, who captained Leicester on his return to the starting line-up, told Sky Sports.
“We’ve got two more games left and we have to put in the same effort we showed tonight, the same commitment ... but we’ll be competing like we did tonight,” he added.
● On-loan Manchester United midfielder Marcel Sabitzer has been ruled out of their last three Premier League games and next month’s FA Cup final due to a knee injury, the club said on Monday.
Sabitzer, 29, joined United from Bayern Munich in January on a short-term deal until the end of the season. He has scored three times in 18 appearances and won the League Cup in February.
“Marcel Sabitzer has suffered a meniscal injury which will, unfortunately, rule him out for the remainder of the season,” United said.
“Everyone at the club is disappointed to lose Marcel’s services, as we strive for a strong finish to our season ... and we appreciate his contribution to our progress so far.”
Sabitzer made 24 appearances for Bayern this season before joining United. He has won 69 caps for Austria.
United travel to Bournemouth on Saturday before hosting Chelsea and Fulham. They will take on Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley on June 3.
● Releasing in-game audio recordings of VAR decisions concerning key incidents in Premier League matches is likely to become more common next season, referees’ chief Howard Webb has said.
In-game audio from key decisions was released for the first time when Webb joined Sky Sports pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher on the Monday Night Football programme to discuss incidents from this season.
Webb showed video and audio recordings of interactions between on-field referees and VAR officials discussing ingame situations and explained how the decisions were made.
“We’re looking to do this (release audio) as much as we possibly can,” Webb, who is Professional Game Match Officials Ltd chief, said on the show, noting that Fifa would not allow them to play the audio live during the game.
“We’re making a small step forward. Going forward into next season we will look to do more of the same.”
VAR was introduced to the Premier League at the start of the 2019/2020 season. —