Klopp says Reds must win on the road or face KO
JURGEN KLOPP has warned his Liverpool side they will crash out of Europe early if they do not improve their away form.
They kicked off the defence of their crown with defeat at Napoli before scraping past Red Bull Salzburg at Anfield last time out, but enough is enough.
Klopp says they cannot rely on their home form as they prepare to face Genk in their latest Group E match here in Belgium tonight.
The Liverpool manager said: “Last year we were lucky with how tight the group was that we could afford to lose three times away and still make it through. That will not happen this year. It’s completely different. We can’t rely on home games.
“Obviously, we like to say European nights at Anfield are really special, but other teams can make a special atmosphere as well.
“We know it’s not historically good what we’ve done [away from home] in the last few years but in general the Champions League was obviously really good for us.We did the right things in the right moments, but we don’t rely on these things.
“We know we have to improve and we try again and again and again until it works out.”
Liverpool’s away form is puzzling because in the season before last, when they reached the final, they beat only Maribor away at this stage with draws against Spartak Moscow and Sevilla.
And of course it did not stop them conquering Europe last term after they beat Bayern Munich and Porto away in the knockout stages before staging that miraculous Anfield comeback against Barca to reach the final.
It has led to seven players being put on the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or – Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mo Salah,Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum.
“That’s a very good sign,” said Klopp.
Alexander-Arnold (virus) and Joel Matip (knee) will not be available tonight but Salah travelled after missing Sunday’s draw with Manchester United with an ankle injury.
James Milner is expected to feature and the midfielder is hopeful his contract situation will soon be sorted, with his current deal set to expire in the summer. He said: “There have been talks so hopefully it gets resolved sooner rather than later.”