Klopp looks to ‘right characters’ for boost after troubled spell
>> LEICESTER: Juergen Klopp is doing his best to remain positive, but September has been a miserable month for Liverpool so far and rapid improvement is needed at Leicester today.
Klopp’s side finished August in high spirits with a convincing 4-0 victory over Arsenal, but four matches since then have brought no victories and a League Cup exit against Leicester in midweek.
Leicester were good value for Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over the Reds, who have fallen off the pace in the Premier League and begin the weekend in eighth place, five points behind the leaders.
But Klopp has rejected claim his players are soft and there is evidence to support him.
They came back from conceding the first goal to draw 1-1 at home to Burnley in the Premier League last weekend, three days after making a similar recovery as they drew 2-2 with Sevilla at Anfield in the Champions League.
However, the real concern is Liverpool’s weakness in defence.
They have conceded 10 goals in their last four matches, and have not been helped by Dejan Lovren’s late withdrawal from their last two games with a sore back.
Lovren was selected in the starting line-up for both the Burnley match and the midweek cup tie at Leicester, before pulling out.
Last Saturday, Ragnar Klavan took his place, while on Tuesday, Joe Gomez moved across to centre-half as Jon Flanagan was recalled to play at full-back.
Lovren remains an injury doubt for today, while fellow centre-back Joel Matip and midfielder Emre Can are also struggling with minor knocks, suggesting that Klopp’s options may be restricted once more.
The manager, though, is bullish about his squad’s mental strength.
“Yes, we have the right characters. They have proved it already hundreds of times,” Klopp said.
“It sounds like we have nil points and are the worst team in the league. Yes, we obviously have problems. That’s why we only have eight points and not 15. That’s the situation.”