Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp has asked for patience as his injury-ridden squad tries to get their disappointing season back on track.
The Reds are currently ninth on the English Premier League standings but have qualified for the UEFA Champions League knock-out stages. They host Napoli in their final group game later Tuesday.
Liverpool was expected to be Manchester City’s closest challenger for the Premier League title. But they have struggled so far this season mainly due to injuries to key players such as Naby Keita, Luis Diaz and Joel Matip.
The Reds can secure the top spot in Group A of the Champions League, but they’ll have to beat Napoli by four goals or more.
Klopp has denied that his team is in decline and says there is no quick fix to their problems.
“At the moment it’s not 100% fair to judge the team because it means the squad obviously, because we never had them available, we miss, especially now up front, top quality, which is not helpful, that doesn’t mean the others don’t have top quality. But with the amount of games, we’d usually make changes but now we can’t do that.”
Meanwhile Tottenham say they will rally together to compensate for the absence of coach Antonio Conte against Marseille tonight.
It’s matchday as we take on @sscnapoli at Anfield to round off #UCL Group A 👊#LIVNAP | #WalkOn pic.twitter.com/qY9ecwBD9o
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 1, 2022
Conte was suspended after seeing red in Spur’s previous Group D match.
This, after a Harry Kane goal, which would have seen them advance to the knock-out stages, was disallowed.
The group, which also includes Sporting Lisbon and Frankfurt, is the tightest one in this season’s competition.
Any one of the four teams can still qualify for the next round.
Spurs believe they can still secure victory to finish in the top spot, without the presence of their head coach.
“Luckily he has a very good staff and players who are well aware of what he expects from them and we will all try our best to fill the role. In the end, no one can fill his role, but we will do our best and be together to make sure that we can get through this together”, says Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
In other matches Tuesday, already-qualified Bayern Munich and eliminated Barcelona will rest key players.
Bayern will face Inter Milan in Munich in a dead-rubber, while Barca hope to finish on a high against Viktoria Plzen in the Czech Republic.
