Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted he is concerned by Tottenham’s ability to counter-attack ahead of a must-win fixture for both sides this weekend.
Spurs travel to Anfield on Saturday night looking to build on last week’s win over Leicester and keep up their momentum in the race for a Premier League top four spot.
But Antonio Conte’s men will have a tough task on their hands in stopping Liverpool, who booked their place in this month’s Champions League final in Paris on Tuesday.
The Reds claimed a 5-2 aggregate victory against Villarreal, although they were made to work hard in securing that berth by the determined LaLiga outfit.
Unai Emery’s team eliminated Liverpool’s two-goal advantage in the first half of their second leg tie, catching the visitors on their heels on a damp night in eastern Spain.
Despite Klopp’s side rallying back with three goals in the second period, the display has left him slightly concerned for the upcoming visit of Tottenham.
The German coach admitted title-chasing Liverpool’s need to win against a counter-attacking side like Spurs is ‘not a good mix’, with both teams’ campaigns still hanging in the balance.
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Klopp told CBS Sports: “You saw that Villarreal performance, how they fought for it and our reaction in the first have, how nervous you can get when things don’t go your way.
“In the league, we are not the favourites, that’s how it is, but we are close enough, but we play next game versus Tottenham. As far as I know, they are really good at counter-attacking, we have to win the game, we all know, and that’s not a good mix.”
The reverse fixture saw Spurs and Liverpool play out an intense 2-2 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December, in what was one of the games of the season.
The hosts failed to build on Harry Kane and Heung-min Son’s tallies by spurning a number of good opportunities to put the game out of Liverpool’s reach.
Spurs Web Opinion
It should be a good game on Saturday considering both teams need the three points for their respective seasons.
Spurs haven’t got on too well at Anfield across the last few years which makes it a pretty daunting fixture, but they need to play without fear against this Liverpool team to try and get a positive result.
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