It will be a difficult game for us: Jurgen Klopp on Porto

Liverpool might have qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League, but manager Jurgen Klopp wants his team to be at their absolute best in the midweek clash. Matchday five will see the Reds host the Portuguese side at Anfield. The top spot in Group B has been already secured thanks to four victories in the opening four matches. Ahead of the match, Klopp gave an update on the fitness of Andy Robertson and Jordan Henderson. “We always respect the competition but we have to think about ourselves, our schedule and the situation of our players first,” he told in his pre-match press conference.

“Hendo, we will see. Yesterday, I would say he was maybe not at 100 per cent. So he can play, he can do pretty much everything but it’s really being at 100 per cent fit. So I thought when he came on against Arsenal it was just to see the game out and controlling a little bit – that was exactly actually what he had to do from the rehab point of view, so he used these few minutes. But now we have to see. I don’t know 100 per cent.

“Robbo, similar. Both are OK, but are both now ready to play, ready to start with the schedule, with games coming up? We have to make these decisions. We didn’t make these decisions yet because, how we all know, in this time of the season the medical department has a big hand in line-ups. So we will see. But whatever line-up we will show tomorrow night, it is only about winning the game and winning this game, and winning the next and winning the next, all these kind of things. That’s what we are here for. So, we will see.”

Klopp: We need to be ready as a whole

He added: “We know that our opponent will be motivated on the highest level for two main reasons. One is we won there in a way which they didn’t like for sure. And on the other hand, if they win the game tomorrow night they have a final against Atletico on the last matchday of the group, so that’s what they want, that’s clear.”

“It will be a difficult game for us. I really hope that everybody at Anfield is absolutely at their best because we only show up tomorrow because we want to try to win the game. That’s Champions League, you can never take these things for granted and I hope nobody is doing that. We need to be ready as a whole, altogether we need to be ready to put a proper fight out there. In the moment I am pretty positive that we can do that.”

Klopp then shifted his focus to Takumi Minamino, praising the Japanese attacker’s performances of late. “He played for Japan in the last few games because he is in a great shape, that’s how it is. That helps always when you want to start football games for club and country. He’s in exceptional shape, we knew that and that’s why it’s important for us. I knew before the game that Taki is pretty much our first option for changing on five positions for the Arsenal game,” he explained. 

“That says a lot because he can play all these different positions. When he came on, it was just a wonderful moment, 40-odd seconds on the pitch and scoring the goal. From that moment on, you can see his confidence now, with how the confidence grew in the last few months and how good a player he is. I’m really pleased for him, really. He will get his minutes, definitely.”