Klopp says Reds aim to
Boss Dean Smith believes Aston Villa will beat the drop today, a day that has been tagged “Survival Sunday”.
Villa go to West Ham out of the bottom three on goal difference after Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Arsenal.
Drop rivals Watford go to the Gunners with Bournemouth travelling to Everton.
Two from three will go down but Smith is confident it will be Villa celebrating retaining their Premier League status.
He said: “I’ve been confident in this group since we came back. There’s nothing to waver my belief in them. I know after the Manchester United match (a 3-0 defeat) everyone thought we were relegated and were speaking about a Championship season.
“We have taken seven points – and it should have been nine – from the last three games and we’re above the line.
“We understand what we have to do. We have to be mindful of what’s happening at other games, as we saw in the Championship, and we’ll have some ‘what if?’ scenarios in the final 15 minutes.”
Smith has remained calm throughout Villa’s struggles this season after leading them to promotion via the play-offs last year.
He lost record buy Wesley and England goalkeeper Tom Heaton to season-ending knee injuries in the same game in January, and Villa were seven points from safety going into their match against Crystal Palace earlier this month.
But the 49-year-old knows how important it was for him to keep his cool.
He said: “I think 33 years of being involved in football is enough to help you deal with pressure. It certainly wouldn’t be good for my health if I was getting too up and down.
“I’ve always maintained the biggest thing a player wants to see is consistency from a manager. If I’m up and down then I can’t expect them to have good emotional control as well, so I think it’s really important I’ve trained myself to do that.”
Meanwhile, Eddie Howe has told his
Bournemouth players to enjoy their last roll of the Premier League dice at Everton. Bournemouth must beat the Toffees and hope both Watford lose at Arsenal and Aston Villa lose at West Ham to claw their way to topflight survival.
Manager Howe has admitted attempting to have fun amid such a pressure situation will not be easy – but will be vital to Bournemouth’s chances of pulling off a classic last-day escape.
“I don’t think the players will need help getting motivated,” said Howe. “It’s controlling our emotions that is going to be key because you have to play the game and you have to play the moment, be very much in the present.
“Thinking too much, or getting too emotional, can be very counterproductive so we need the players just to – it sounds funny but, enjoy the game – play the game as they have always done. But play to a very high level, that’s what we’ll be trying to do.”
Asked if he and his coaching staff can enjoy the day too, Howe replied: “Yeah, enjoying it? We’ll try to. It’s a very, very difficult feeling.
“But you have to stick to your instincts and your principles, and everything that you’ve always done because you can’t let one game change you emotionally.
“So I think we’ll go and attack the game, try and win, and then see what happens.
“We’re going to have to be good mentally, put all the other noise aside and focus on the football match.”
“It doesn’t matter to us really what happens elsewhere. We have to win this game to have any chance. So I’ll put my energies into that.”
Watford caretaker manager Hayden Mullins has backed his players to focus on the job at hand as they travel to Arsenal.
The Hornets sit 18th in the table and need to better Aston Villa’s result at West Ham to stand any chance of avoiding relegation.
Mullins took charge last weekend following the shock departure of Nigel Pearson but could not stop Watford falling to a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City on Tuesday night.
The defeat, coupled with Aston Villa’s surprise win over Arsenal, means Watford face the Gunners knowing their fate is no longer in their own hands.
But Mullins feels his players will be able to keep their minds occupied on the task of getting a result at the Emirates Stadium and not concern themselves with what is happening elsewhere.
“I think the players, once they cross the line and the game starts, a lot of the emotion and what is going on outside of the game goes away,” he said.
Mullins insists he will not have anyone watching Villa or Bournemouth, but is likely to know what is going on and how it impacts on what Watford need to do to stay up.
“I don’t think we will have anyone tuned in specifically for that,” he said.
“We will probably find out what is going on. It is just natural that there are people around who will keep us up to date on the results.
“It won’t be something I spend a lot of energy on and worrying about. It is about trying to get us right and if we get it right then we will have a look at the rest after.
“I think the boys will be tuned in to what is happening. At times if we need to get messages on to the pitch we will but they just need to concentrate on their jobs.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp wants his Premier League champions to be even more uncomfortable to play against next season.
Prior to March’s lockdown the Reds had taken 82 points – more than second-placed Manchester City will reach if they win today – from 29 matches with just one defeat and one draw to virtually guarantee a first title in 30 years.
Wednesday’s 5-3 victory over Chelsea made it three seasons unbeaten at home in the league, but as they head into their final match of the campaign at Newcastle with an 18-point gap at the top, Klopp is expecting more from his players.
“We will not change,” he said.
“We try to improve. Is is possible to improve for a longer period? I would say yes.
“We make a cut when the season is finished on Sunday, enjoy it, be happy, and then mid-august we start training again and from that moment on we will try it again with all we have and nothing will hold us back.
“It is a really nice story the boys have written over the years but it is not finished yet.
“We decide when it is finished. “I want to see us fighting for whatever the next trophy is, fighting on the pitch and enjoying the hard work and as long as we do that we have a good chance.
“First thing, as always, is to be a team no one wants to play against. I think we are like this but we can