KOP WON’T STOP
Jurgen vows to keep fighting after title blow
JURGEN KLOPP’S words after a damaging draw with Spurs were positive... but his face offered the true picture.
He looked ashen at the end of the game with Spurs, as drained as his courageous players who kept fighting for the victory they required, despite their physical and mental reserves clearly deserting them.
Klopp knew, as all Anfield knew, that it handed a psychological advantage to Manchester City they would inevitably exploit 24 hours later against Newcastle.
Yet there was still a note of defiance.
Klopp knows that City are more than good enough to win all their remaining games, despite that shattering defeat by Real Madrid.
But he also realises there could be a twist, with both title rivals still to face Wolves and Aston Villa, sides who have demonstrated in recent seasons they are capable of hurting Pep Guardiola’s men.
He said: “We have to show resilience. If we’d won against Spurs, it wouldn’t increase the probability of us beating Aston Villa on Tuesday.
“A result against Wolves is also by no means a given – they did the double over City a couple of years ago.
But Klopp is adamant that the one thing his side will never do is throw in the towel.
Liverpool were out on their feet against Spurs and still took a point.
They were certainly suckered by a swift counter attack, when Harry Kane showed immense maturity in passing rather than shooting to eventually give Son the chance to sweetly score.
Yet Klopp’s side still fought back through Luis Diaz to give themselves a realistic chance of a winner.
It didn’t arrive but it wasn’t for lack of belief or effort by a Liverpool who continue to push to the limit.
It was a good point for Spurs and Ben Davies is adamant Thursday’s north London derby can still be massive despite Arsenal holding a huge advantage in the chase for fourth place.
The defender insists the showdown at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium can still be decisive, even though Arsenal are now four points ahead.
With three games to go for both clubs, Davies believes there can be more twists in the fight for the top four, with Chelsea also still in that mix after a poor run of results.
He said: “It’s a massive game but we can only do what we can control and Arsenal have been on a fantastic run.
“You can’t hide from that but there is a lot of pressure to keep it up and do it in the remaining few games.
“We have to control what we can, try to win the game and then go on to try to win our remaining games.”
Davies believes a win for Spurs can change the course of their campaign.
He said: “For us now Thursday is huge. We know what we have to do going into it. There’s no hiding from that. We have to go out there and put in a similar performance to the game at Liverpool.”