Could this man return against Villa and make the difference for Liverpool?
Klopp’s team arrives in the Midlands on Sunday afternoon, looking to take the points at Villa Park against an Aston Villa side that currently sit in 20th place.
It’s an unusual situation for Villa, and shows just how bad things can become for any side (even European Cup winners) but the 7-times Division 1 title winners are recently making a stab at staying up.
Liverpool go into the game sitting 19 points clear of Villa, who are currently 8 points off 17th and Klopp will hope his side can go on to compound those relegation fears.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference (via Liverpoolfc.com), Klopp said: “You can say they have nothing to lose anymore but they have to win the games and take the risks.
“Of course, it’s not a coincidence that we are in ninth place and they are in this place [20th]. You have to avoid a few things and you have to use a few things, that’s how it is.
“That’s how you prepare for a game, and of course it is not our thing to think about Aston’s Villa’s targets for this game. We have to be strong and have our own targets.
“We have to do everything to reach them.It’s always difficult at Aston Villa but don’t forget it’s difficult for Aston Villa to win against us if we are good. That’s the first thing we have to show and if we show this then we can win.”
Liverpool themselves will head to Villa Park in a pretty terrible run of form, with just 1 win in the last 6, after having been beaten by West Ham in the FA Cup on Tuesday evening. The third time this season Slaven Bilic’s side have defeated the Reds.
But there is surely no better time to turn things around than playing against the bottom side, just while they’re on the cusp of turning things around. A performance in any way better than in recent weeks will surely hammer another nail in Aston Villa’s Premier League coffin.
Klopp will have a handful of injury returnees, in the form of Daniel Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho and Divock Origi – all of whom featured against West Ham in the week. If any of those three start, then the chances of goals must surely multiply by 50%.
