Jurgen Klopp may be halfway around the globe, but he will watch Liverpool take on Aston Villa this evening in the Carabao Cup.
The German has taken his first-team squad to Qatar for the Club World Cup, meaning tonight’s domestic clash at Villa Park is an opportunity for Liverpool’s finest youngsters to prove themselves.
Klopp has sacrificed the Carabao Cup to ensure Liverpool have the best chance possible of winning the Club World Cup, with their semi-final against Monterrey LIVE on talkSPORT 2 on Wednesday.
While not expecting the Reds’ Under-23s to beat Premier League outfit Villa, Klopp wants to see the Anfield youngsters put in a showing the club can be proud of.
And the German will be keeping an eye on the match even though he can’t be in the dugout.
“We don’t expect a result, we expect a performance,” said Klopp. “They will have all our support. We will think of them – they’re our boys.
“We’ll be in front of a television.”
Though he will watch Tuesday’s game, Klopp’s real focus in Qatar is Liverpool’s Club World Cup campaign starting the following day.
“We are here,” he added. “We don’t fly that distance to not show up. We are here. We will be prepared.
“We don’t see ourselves as favourites, we see ourselves as challengers. Is it the most important competition? I don’t know.”
Klopp also discussed other topics during his press conference, and you can read the best bits, below…
On choosing Club World Cup over Carabao Cup
“The last couple of years we have been kicked out of the cup competitions with pretty much our first team. The youngsters have deserved their chance and they have taken it. They have all our support and we will be thinking of them. They are our boys. We hope they do well.”
On being a ‘cheerleader’
“I don’t see myself as a cheerleader; my job is to help the boys as much as I can especially in intense periods it is tough. We still have a few things in our tank.”
On pitch concerns in Qatar
“We spoke yesterday with our groundsman who is here. My concern was from England.
“When we arrived on Sunday it was half-raining, but our groundsman said it was built on sand and took the water off. Pitch hopefully no concern.”
LIVE on talkSPORT
Check out all the live commentaries coming up across our network this week…
- Aston Villa vs Liverpool (Tuesday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT
- Liverpool vs Monterrey (Wednesday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Everton vs Leicester (Wednesday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Manchester United vs Colchester (Wednesday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT
- Middlesbrough vs Stoke (Friday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Everton vs Arsenal (Saturday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT
- Aston Villa vs Southampton (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Cardiff vs Preston (Saturday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Manchester City vs Leicester (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT
- Sheffield Wednesday vs Bristol City (Sunday, 12pm) – talkSPORT 2
On Monterrey challenge
“We need to show we are ready. That’s all we are concerned about. Compliments, thank you, but they don’t really help us.
“We are more concerned about the game. We are always optimistic, ready to work hard, we will find a line-up to work hard and respect the opponent.”
On Qatar concerns
“I have an opinion about football, and I have an opinion about things like that as well. I have to be influential in football, but other people have to be influential in politics. I like I’m asked that, but I’m the wrong person to be asked.
“We have been made very welcome, well organised, we were asked to come here. We are here to represent Liverpool first and foremost. We qualified and were invited.
“The decisions [where] have to be asked beforehand. I have a personal opinion, we should all be treated equally.”
On Club World Cup’s reputation in England
“I’m not sure. We are here now. We are completely focused on it.
“If you’d said we should have a Club World Cup in middle of season I’d say no, being honest. But we are here and that’s our next task.”
