Jurgen Klopp has admitted that it is difficult to keep Erling Haaland in check but the Liverpool manager will give it a try on Sunday.
The Reds host Premier League champions Manchester City and their prolific striker at Anfield on Sunday evening, with Klopp’s side in desperate need of victory.
To get the three points to take them up from their lowly 10th place in the table, Liverpool must prevent Haaland from adding to his record 15 goals in only nine league matches.
“Special plans against Haaland? Like always, obviously when you play against, for sure in the moment, the best striker in the world, you have to make sure that he doesn’t get that many balls,” Klopp said during his pre-match press conference today.
“And that’s what you have to defend before you come into the challenge with him, so that’s what we will try.
“But against City obviously the problem is you if you close Haaland down with too many players then you open up gaps for all the other world-class players, so that will not make life easier. But it’s a challenge, it’s a football problem and we try to find solutions.”
Games between Liverpool and Manchester City have been close in recent seasons, although the latter have a 13-point gap over Klopp’s side at the moment.
The German said he always relishes testing himself and his team against Pep Guardiola’s side.
“Look, when you play City, results left and right are not really important because this game requires all your focus, requires all the things you know about football,” Klopp noted.
“It’s everything. I said it a couple of times, I enjoy preparing the game really but it’s anyway the biggest challenge you can face in football. Football is all about closing down spaces, closing down players, having challenges in the right areas, these kind of things.
“And with City, it’s always if you close them down here, then they are there and if you close that gap, you open up that gap – because the pitch is so big and we only have 10 players to close all the gap. So, always a challenge. What I want to say with that, it’s not that we now feel different or whatever.
“It’s a home game, it’s Anfield, it’s us against Man City. Yes, they are in the moment, definitely, the best football team in the world, that’s how it is, but we will give it a try anyway, knowing there are no guarantees. But we know we get help from a full Anfield and we try to use that.
“[I enjoy playing City] very much, very much. It’s not that I don’t enjoy playing other games, but this is just a different challenge because they are good everywhere, so that’s how it is.
“There are no weak points where you say, ‘OK, we can do that and they might struggle here or here.’
“Yes, we know obviously we have a couple of good results against them – not enough for winning the title more often – but most of the games we were really in the game and that was always very important.
“First and foremost, you have to be in the game, you need to have your own moments. There are moments where you have to suffer – it’s always the case – where they make you run, but there are other moments where you have to be dominant as well and that’s what we will try. Find the right balance for these moments is the challenge.”
