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Jurgen Klopp has demanded Liverpool’s players show some “fight” to salvage their season.
Klopp is concerned his players are not winning enough challenges, and he has told them to take responsibility.
Liverpool’s tackle success rate in the Premier League has been strong enough, with their 60.73 per cent record ranking them third among all clubs, behind only Arsenal and Everton.
But the record in duels is a different story, and dismal from a Reds perspective. A duel is defined by Opta as a ’50-50 contest between two players of opposing sides’.
Only in seven out of 27 games across all competitions has Liverpool’s duels success reached 50 per cent this season.
In Premier League games only, Liverpool’s duels record heading into the latest round of games was the worst of all teams, with a 47.54 per cent success rate.
Klopp said the only way around the problem was to “win more challenges”.
“I cannot win challenges for them,” he said. “That’s what we are talking about, and it’s something we have to do, and that will change a lot.
“It’s a basic thing to win challenges, and that’s why we’re talking a little bit about it.
“We are not the most shiny star because we don’t play the football people expect and we expect as well, but we have good moments, and we have to fight through this.”
Klopp was adamant Liverpool “have more problems than other teams at this moment”, with injuries to key personnel undoubtedly hampering their progress.
They sat seventh in the table going into the weekend, after losing to Brentford in their last league game, with a tricky away game at Brighton and Hove Albion awaiting them on Saturday.
Klopp is sure Liverpowill win football games again”, after their sticky start since the season resumed after the World Cup.
Liverpool’s EFL Cup defence ended with defeat to Manchester City in December, while hopes of another run to FA Cup glory are hanging by a thread as they face a third-round Molineux replay against Wolves after an Anfield draw.
Klopp said the Brighton game was a “very important game for us for different reasons”.
He stressed there are aspects of Liverpool’s recent performances “we didn’t like” and said there was no danger of underestimating Brighton, a team he feels are “full of confidence” under Roberto De Zerbi’s leadership.
The game should mark Mohamed Salah’s 300th appearance for an English club, with the Egypt international having to date played 280 games for Liverpool and 19 for Chelsea.
He has proven to be one of Klopp’s best signings, and Liverpool hope there is plenty still to come from the 30-year-old, who has blossomed at Anfield after a spell with Roma.
“Oh my god, what a journey,” Klopp said. “I would say his dreams and our dreams came true during that period, but it’s not over yet.
“Mo is fit, still after all these years, after all these games, and that’s important, that he’s available pretty much always.
“Sometimes the performance drops here and there, but it doesn’t happen too often, so I think it was a perfect match.”
