Klopp not falling for one-man Spurs trap
JURGEN KLOPP isn’t falling into the Pep Guardiola trap of dismissing Spurs as a ‘Harry Kane team’.
The Liverpool boss made it clear ahead of today’s clash at Wembley that he doesn’t put Spurs’ success down to one player, or even the front-three of Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen.
‘They have Kane, Alli and Eriksson but with just three players you can do nothing, absolutely nothing,’ he said.
‘It is quite difficult to find better than Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld and yet they still brought in the boy from Ajax [Davinson Sanchez]. They brought in Ben Davies when Danny Rose was injured. They had Kieran Trippier for the right when Kyle Walker walked away to Manchester City.
‘Eriksen is for sure one of the best and who is behind? Moussa Sissoko — we know his quality — and Son [Heung-min] doesn’t play all the time but always seems to decide games when he does. [Eric] Dier can play centre-half or No 6. My God, they have great quality.’
If praising Spurs to the hilt is a good ploy psychologically, Klopp is not down on his own team, even though they are outside the top six.
‘We have improved. Perhaps you can’t see it too much in the Premier League results, but we are creating more chances, more moments. If we stay convinced about our way, and bring in consistency, we can have our best season.’
Many have written off Liverpool’s title chances, but Klopp feels it is too early to judge: ‘Nobody goes through this league like a warm knife through butter.’ Probable Liverpool team: Mignolet - Trent-Alexander, Lovren, Matip, Moreno, Henderson, Can, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Coutinho