Klopp on wet, windy Wednesday in Stoke and Reds' progress
Jürgen Klopp is expecting another 'difficult' away game against Stoke City when Liverpool run out at the Bet365 Stadium on Wednesday evening.
The Reds boss has won on both of his trips to the Potteries since being appointed Reds boss - one in the League Cup, one in the Premier League - though each was settled by a single-goal margin.
Speaking at his press conference to preview Liverpool's latest outing in Staffordshire, the German reflected on the challenge posed by Mark Hughes' team, progress in taking on the league's lesser lights, and a memorable last away game at Stoke.
Read on for a summary of his quotes below...
On facing the cliched wet, windy Wednesday in Stoke...
When we were there last time the weather was good to be honest! This time it will be dark and probably windy. Stoke, for sure, is a difficult place to go because it's a good side with a fantastic manager, a very experienced manager, and the team is very experienced as well. They live for moments like this; these home games, floodlit, atmosphere. It’s nice, but we are not there to enjoy any atmosphere or suffer under any atmosphere, we go there to get the points, that’s 100 per cent clear and that’s what we have to show. But it will be difficult, you're right, we know about that.
On the Reds' 2-1 win in their last trip to Stoke...
It was fantastic. I don’t know 100 per cent but I think it was after the international break, we had injury problems and we had to change and we thought we had to change the system. It didn't work well, the first half was not a good game for both sides but I think Stoke was OK with the way the game went until a specific point. We changed in the second half and Phil and Roberto made quite a difference, it was nice. I think the situation of the game was the save of Simon Mignolet from half-a-yard distance. It was a remarkable game. I didn't think about it in the preparations but, now you ask me, there were a few nice situations. The goal of Roberto - nice pass from Gini and Roberto scored the goal. It was a good day for us.
On an improving record against the so-called lesser sides this season...
But we didn’t win against the top six now! Yes, we made progress, 100 per cent. We are more patient in the right way in specific games, [which is] very, very important for us. We feel really on a good way. Chelsea is an unbelievably difficult team to play and we played them in a manner that was completely different to the last two years. We won there [at Stamford Bridge] but it was completely different, we dominated them. They came here and gave us the ball and said, ‘come on, try something’ - and we were there and did it. That's fantastic, absolutely fantastic, but at the end you want to win, or you have to win, but we didn't. But I still feel that we are on a good way and that’s what we have to show again, again and again. Until the end of January it is a really decisive period of the season and we need to be 100 per cent spot on but my feeling is that we are.