‘Be at our best otherwise it could be really tricky’ - Klopp on Chelsea trip
Jürgen Klopp stressed the need for his Liverpool players to be at their absolute best against Chelsea on Sunday if they're to leave Stamford Bridge with a positive result.
Like the Reds, Frank Lampard's side opened up their 2020-21 Premier League campaign with three points on the board after beating Brighton and Hove Albion 3-1 on Monday night.
Ahead of a mouthwatering encounter in the capital on Sunday afternoon, Klopp detailed the fierce challenge that awaits the reigning champions.
He told his pre-match press conference on Friday: "Last year we played Chelsea pretty often and pretty early in the season. All the games were really difficult, so that's what I expect, first and foremost.
"The first game against Brighton was how it looks when you play Brighton. I'm not sure but when you play Brighton we all suffer because they just play good football and you have to be decisive in the key moments and that was the story of the game pretty much.
"Pretty early it's clear we actually have absolutely no idea who Frank will line up – so many different options. Because we don't know a lot about Chelsea in the moment – during the season that will probably change – we just have to focus on ourselves. There's enough work to do with that for different reasons.
"We are very early in the season, so we had an intense week of work. [We] worked – how we see it – on decisive stuff. A lot of things were good in the first game, some things were not that good. I know that but it's the first game, so we don't make it less important or more important than necessary, just work with it and use it as one information.
"All the rest of the week was absolutely good so far. So now we have to make sure that we can transform that on the pitch because we better be at our best otherwise it could be really, really tricky."
Liverpool picked up three points away at Chelsea last season as well-taken goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Roberto Firmino secured a 2-1 win.
It was one of 14 victories the Reds amassed on their travels in the league throughout 2019-20 to set a new club record.
Asked about his team's success away from home, Klopp commented: "I didn't think last season about it, so why should I now start with it?
"We don't make a difference between home and away games – it is a difference obviously because of the atmosphere in our stadium usually.
"We have different ways to play and we had to defend with all we have and sometimes we scored more often than the opponent.
"We can take the Chelsea game: we scored two wonderful goals, both were after set-pieces, we had more chances but it was a proper fight. That's what we have to be ready for and we should not make a difference between which ground we are playing in at the moment.
"The pitch is similar long, similar wide, so let's go for it. The goal is in a similar position on all pitches, so we don't make the difference. But, of course, sometimes you can have a positive or negative run and it's not really to explain.
"We played just consistently competitive, good football. That was the reason for it and that's what we have to do again. We were really in the game, we didn't give the ball away or played with 20 per cent possession away and 80 per cent at home or whatever.
"We didn't really change. We adapted to the different opponents but we didn't really change and that's another point maybe.
"But in the end, you need to work for these kind of numbers. We just have to work. We go to Chelsea and that's a tough place with or without supporters, the team they have, the manager they have.
"It will just be really hardest work again and that's all we need to know."
