JK on Brighton threat and winning run
Jürgen Klopp previewed Liverpool's weekend trip to Brighton with a press conference at Melwood on Friday afternoon.
The boss provided an update on the fitness of Joel Matip and Adam Lallana ahead of the game and revealed how the Reds' medical staff are influencing his team selections during a busy period.
To see what Klopp had to say on tomorrow's opposition and his side's prospects of building up a winning run, read on...
On Brighton's strengths...
Brighton is a really, really strong side. They have all the good things that you have when you have when you get promoted after a difficult period the year before and then you do it next year. It's a really strong group of good players. [They made] good new signings, not a lot but a few very important ones like Gross, the German guy from Ingolstadt. [He's] a fantastic player, I've known him for a long time. Together with the manager, it fits really well together. They are not a counter-attacking side or a long-ball side only, but they have all this stuff. They have unbelievably quick wingers for the counter, they defend deep and together and they play long balls but they play football because they have the skilled players for that. It's a mix-up, it was a very interesting analysis to be honest. They had a few very good results already this season and even when they lost there were no [big] results. Not City or United or whoever, it was never easy. So we should expect that it will be not easy for us but we are in a good moment as well and we should use that.
On putting together a run of wins...
There is no other chance to be in the region where we are than winning the games. We have to do that, we knew before the season, I knew it when I came in in October 2015. That’s how it is, I am happy that we have a team which makes it more likely for us to do things like this. It's not that I am a genius or that managers a little bit lower in the table are worse or whatever. I have a good team, that's true, but we need these players, we need the quality of the players then we can make our plans and we have to carry on. There should be no doubt about motivation, we know about our responsibility and we want to achieve the maximum. The maximum this season, we will see what it is. I said a few times, if Manchester City keep on winning like they do, then there's no chance for anybody. But that's not our problem, our situation is good enough to work with it but it doesn’t make the next game easier. It's still Brighton, they are still in a good moment, it's an away game in the Premier League. It looks like a few teams can win a few games in a row - look at the results. I watched Arsenal v Huddersfield, 5-0, it looks absolutely clear but then you watch it back and Huddersfield could have been 2-1 up, maybe should, not sure. Then, at the end, it's 5-0. You have to be prepared for the problems you can have in a game, there are a lot. The better you are prepared, the better you can react, and the better you can react, the more likely it is that you will win.