KLOPP: SEVEN FINALS
JURGEN KLOPP has urged his Liverpool players to treat every game left this season like a cup final.
The reigning champions are trying to salvage a campaign that has seen them relinquish the title and fall in the quarter-finals of the Champions League by making a late charge for the top four.
And their manager has now ordered them to attack their last seven games as he prepares to face a Leeds side that won at table-topping Manchester City last weekend, despite having a player sent off.
Klopp said: “We have seven finals and we will only know at the end how many points we will need to make it happen. We should not waste time. We really have to go for it. That’s the situation we are in.
“Two or three weeks ago it looked like Leicester, West Ham and Chelsea were all away from us.
“But now we have nine points from three games and we are in a good moment.
“Yes we are under pressure like no-one can imagine. But we have also put some pressure on the teams above us – and we have got to keep doing that.
“We just have to go for it. We have to go and go and go. We must play our best football and then we will be okay.”
Liverpool edged out Leeds in a seven-goal thriller at Anfield on the opening day of the season – and
Klopp is a huge admirer of the job Marcelo Bielsa is doing.
The Reds boss has pinpointed striker Patrick Bamford as a threat his team must contain.
Klopp said: “What a player Bamford is. I remember hearing on the radio before the start of the season that Leeds ‘needed a proper goalscorer because Bamford was not good enough’.
“I am so happy he has proved them wrong. He is an exceptional player.
“He is perfect. His work-rate is outstanding, but on top of that he still plays good football and scores goals.
“That is rare. I have a lot of interesting players, but I really like Bamford.”
Klopp added: “I saw Leeds’ game at Manchester City and because of an early red card it wasn’t exactly how they usually play. They could have conceded seven, eight or nine – but they didn’t.
“From a passion point of view they played an exceptional game.
“They never gave up, they worked their socks off, and even with 10 men they were able to counter-attack.
“They showed what is possible in football. They deserved it.”