JK: We've spoken about being concentrated from the off
Jürgen Klopp is adamant Liverpool’s recent form won’t lead to overconfidence within the squad and admitted he has stressed the need to begin games on the front foot to his players – starting at Newcastle United on Sunday.
The Reds journey to St James' Park on the back of four consecutive victories, most recently an emphatic 6-1 success at Southampton in midweek.
However, while pleased with their winning sequence, Klopp revealed at his press conference on Friday afternoon he had spoken with his team about how they're starting matches after conceding early goals against the Saints, Crystal Palace and Chelsea in recent weeks.
Newcastle, meanwhile, head into the contest on the back of a 5-1 defeat at Palace and currently sit 19th in the Barclays Premier League – but the manager insists the Reds won’t be taking them lightly.
The German told reporters at Melwood: “I never have a problem with overconfidence. We expect it [to win] too – to be honest, we expect it all the time but it doesn’t work all the time and that’s the problem.
“We have the same thinking about this, but it doesn’t mean we don’t have respect.
“To be prepared for a game, you have to know as much as you can about the actual situation or moment at the [opposition] club because everything can be motivation.
“Confidence is something like a small flower. If you have it but somebody kicks it in the game, you see nothing. But if you don’t have it, you can get it easily back if the other team give you the opportunity to do this. That’s what we have to be prepared for.
“It’s not allowed to start a game like we did against Southampton, Chelsea and Crystal Palace.
“I told the lads if you do it once, you can ignore [it]. If you do it twice, you have to talk about it. If you do it three times, you have to change it immediately – and we did it three times.
“So that’s the first thing – to be concentrated from the first second onwards and only be focused on our targets. If you travel to Newcastle, there’s no other reason [to do so] other than to get as many points as you can. That’s what we have to do and be prepared.
“We had really good analysis of Swansea’s style in the last few weeks, but then they came to Liverpool and played completely different – so to react to this in a game, if it happens, is very important too.
“[As for] expectations from outside, if they think we should win easily, then I’m not interested in it. If they all are prepared for another intensive game, then that’s the same as what we think.”