THE HEAT IS ON
Liverpool set for four days that will shape their season
IT all boils down to this: two huge games, twin objectives and the outcome of an intense season squeezed into four high-pressured days.
Everything is on the line for liverpool as they gear up for trips to Roma and Chelsea that will define their campaign.
You could see the toll that hat was taking at anfield as Jurgen Klopp’s side took an unexpected xpected false step against Stoke.
They should be in cruise se control but four dropped ed points against the Premier eo league’s bottom two teams have raised a question so about their ability to secure a top-four place, e, while four chaotic minutes against Roma have put dreams of a trip to o Kiev on hold.
So it means the anxiety is building. You could see it in the faces s of the players as they trooped out of the stadium. You could hear it in the groans that accompanied each errant pass. Klopp, who was in one of those tetchy moods, embodied the mounting tension.
‘There’s no time to switch off, of course not,’ replied the manager when asked if he could shut things out of his mind. ‘How? When? On the way (to the media room), I met the doctor, he tells me his concerns and whatever. None of these concerns have helped me to switch off.
‘That’s the situation. It’s an intense moment for the boys. You cannot only go out when you feel brilliant and everything is fine.
‘We have to go out when somebody blows the whistle and we have to stay there until somebody blows the whistle again. We will see where it leads us to.’
The first stopping point is Rome on Wednesday. liverpool were unrecognisable against Stoke to the force of nature that swept Roma away with a 5-2 win. Even Mohamed Salah was affected, fluffing the kind of oneonone chance he has been scoring with his eyes closed.
Many thought it was a formality that Salah would score his 32nd of the season against Stoke to break the record for goals in a 38-game Premier league season. But Paul lambert, whose side fully merited their point, expects the Egyptian to put liverpool into the Champions league final. He was withering in his assessment of the Italians.
‘I’ve got to say Roma, for a team in the semi-final of the Champions league, were dreadful,’ said lambert, who won the European Cup with Borussia Dortmund in 1997. ‘Five goals in a semi-final? To be cut open the way they were was shocking. They’ve got hope because of the two late goals.
‘I played in the best team in Europe in my time and know what it takes to win that competition. Roma were never at the races and liverpool did fantastically well.
‘listen, it is easy to pull three goals back when you are at home and the adrenalin is pumping and everything is going for you. But can liverpool score over there? Yes.
‘ The crowd will be behind Roma and they’ll throw everything at liverpool, but if liverpool can defend strongly they have the speed on the counter-attack to score. and if they score the tie is finished.’
It sounds straightforward but a home game with Stoke was supposed to be the same and the fact that liverpool drew means they have opened the door for Chelsea, who they meet at Stamford Bridge next Sunday.
Klopp’s ambition was to wrap up a top-four spot before tackling the trip to Rome but their inability to break Stoke down leaves things in the balance. That means the next two games will, more than anything, be a test of nerve.
‘The focus first and foremost is Roma,’ said Trent alexanderarnold. ‘We look to go there to win and get to the final. They need to score goals to get through, same as Manchester City (who liverpool beat in the last eight).
‘We passed the City test and hopefully we pass the test on Wednesday. Whether we have qualified already or not, we are still going into every game to try and win. The team does not feel more pressure. It is in our own hands. We’ll do anything to win those games. We have to be prepared mentally and physically.’
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3) Karius 6; Gomez 5.5, Van Dijk 7, Klavan 7, Moreno 6; AlexanderArnold 6 (Clyne 65mins 6), Henderson 7, Wijnaldum 6; Salah 6, Firmino 6, Ings 6 (Milner 65, 7). Subs not used: Mignolet, Lovren, Robertson, Solanke, Woodburn.