After a tough 0-0 draw against Manchester United, Liverpool now prepare to face West Bromwich Albion at Anfield. The Reds were the favourites in the last game and will be the fancied side as they take on Tony Pulis’s men.
Liverpool were lucky to salvage a 2-2 draw against the same opposition last season and the celebrations that Jurgen Klopp took part in with his players lead to a lot of controversy. The Liverpool manager even managed to get under the skin of Tony Pulis.
The Reds will also face the likes of Crystal Palace and Watford in the upcoming games, many will remember that the Merseyside club dropped points against the same opposition last season as well.
Jurgen Klopp highlighted the fact that the Premier League is a tougher competition when he was speaking before the game.
“The differences between the Premier League and all the other leagues in world football is that (there are) big individual qualities in all of these teams,” said Klopp. “I think we all know the reason for it and that’s the big difference.
“Nobody will go through and have at the end 120 points or something because there are a lot of difficult hurdles to jump over and West Brom is for sure one of them. They fight for every point.”
Respect for West Brom
Klopp also stated that he respects all the sides in the Premier League, especially due to the fact that they all put up a good fight in the matches.
“I respect them all and I showed it last year when we played West Brom. I celebrated the point and it was a little bit surprising for most of the people but I was happy.
“I don’t know in this moment if I would celebrate a draw again, it depends on the game we play on Saturday. Everything’s possible.”
A great run for the Reds till December
After a tough start to the season which saw the Reds face Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and Leicester City in their first eight games, the Reds have a comparatively easier run in now.
The next biggest game would be the Merseyside derby which is in December but the German manager does not want his side to take the foot off the gas.
“We don’t lose or win against another team because of the name or the common history; it’s because of performances.
“That’s what we have to do. If we want to be successful we should win a lot of games. First of all, we shouldn’t care about the name of the team, where we play them, at home or away, we have to win, we have to win, we have to win, that’s how it is.
“For this you need to be lucky in different situations, you need to force it sometimes, always you have to fight for it. I don’t make differences between these types of teams.”
The Reds should have a lot more in their tank to defeat West Brom but Klopp’s team does have a history of struggling to defeat teams that sit back. They failed to break down Manchester United last time around and Tony Pulis will hope he can come out with a point from Anfield.
