LONDON (AFP) - Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says Manchester United have "unbelievable quality" despite their struggles this season, playing down his own team's growing injury problems ahead of Sunday's (Dec 16) Premier League clash.
Liverpool are top of the Premier League heading into the weekend fixtures, 16 points ahead of Jose Mourinho's side, but the Klopp is taking nothing for granted.
"I was never interested in the points of Manchester United and I am not today," he said on Friday.
"I am aware of the criticism and stuff but when we analyse them and switch off the sound there is a lot of quality.
"There is speed, technique, physical strength, pretty much everything. They still have (David) de Gea in goal, unbelievable. They have strikers they can switch between (Marcus) Rashford, (Romelu) Lukaku, (Jesse) Lingard, (Anthony) Martial, unbelievable quality."
Mourinho has been wrestling with the problem of how to get the best out of midfielder Paul Pogba, who has not been in the starting line-up for the past two Premier League matches.
Klopp was asked whether he thought United were better with or without the World Cup winner but said he would not comment beyond calling him a "world-class player".
He said he is unlikely to make a move during the January transfer window after insisting his mounting injury problems in defence are not a crisis.
Right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold (foot) and Joel Matip (broken collarbone) this week joined Joe Gomez (broken leg) on the injury list.
Midfielder James Milner played at right-back recently and Nathaniel Clyne has returned to fitness but has barely featured since the beginning of last season.
Klopp admits he may have to get creative but that is unlikely to involve spending in January.
"A crisis is if you feel it is a crisis," he said. "With Trent, it's not as serious as with the other two boys, but of course it's not top-class news, that's clear."
A back problem restricted Clyne to just five appearances in the final few weeks of last season and his injury issues have continued into the current campaign but his return to full training is timely.
"Clyne is a very experienced player," said Klopp.
"Is it perfect? No. But is he experienced enough to do it? Yes, 100 per cent.
"We have other options so we will not push Clyney after not the longest spell of training.
"As long as we have options everything is fine. If we don't have the obvious option any more then we need to be creative."
Mar 13, 2019 · Gareth Southgate has admitted England's attempt to win the Nations League in June will be a 'mess' if English clubs reach the Champions League final final may mess up Nations League
Football: Champions League final may 'mess' with England's
Real Madrid News: Santiago Solari 'trusts' VAR after Ajax win - Nicolas Tagliafico saw his opener ruled out due to a marginal offside call, a decision that Madrid's boss believes was correct Santiago Solari said head co - February 14th, 2019
Real Madrid News: Santiago Solari 'trusts' VAR after Ajax win
Lions hunt in their prides, or groups. They stalk their prey while low to the ground. They like to hunt at night because the animals have a harder time seeing them, but lions actually see better
Do lions hunt? - answers.com
Football: Sanchez haunts Arsenal as Man United maintain perfect record under Solskjaer LONDON (AFP) - Alexis Sanchez came back to haunt Arsenal as the Chilean opened the scoring in Manchester United's 3-1 FA Cup fourth-round win on Friday (Jan 25) to maintain Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's 100 percent record as caretaker manager.
Sanchez haunts Arsenal as Man Utd maintain perfect record
Football: Improved Denis Suarez ready to make impact, say
The Merlion Cup returns for an eighth edition this June in a new format after a 10-year hiatus. First introduced in 1982, the invitational tournament was an annual affair until 1986 and saw participation from teams hailing from 18 countries including Australia, Iraq, China and Chile in past editions.
Merlion Cup returns after 10 years - au.sports.yahoo.com
Football: Tunisian club win African title after final abandoned over video assistant referee JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Esperance won the CAF Champions League in Tunisia Saturday (June 1) after Wydad Casablanca refused to continue playing on 60 minutes because VAR was unavailable to judge a disallowed equaliser.
Tunisian club win African title after final abandoned over VAR
FAS technical director hopeful Sigurdur Ragnar Eyjolfsson says Iceland can be model for Singapore With a population of less than 350,000, Iceland's meteoric rise in football has drawn questions here as to why Singapore cannot follow suit, with both nations hemmed in by limited human resources.
Football: New FAS technical director Joseph Palatsides
Mauricio Pochettino plans to ruin old pal Pep Guardiola's Champions League bid Description: Aware of the harsh prism through which his European record is viewed, Guardiola went on the defensive when asked on Tuesday if he had extra motivation to win the competition again.
Pochettino plans to ruin old pal Guardiola's Champions League
German students use a carnival float depicting environmental activist Greta Thunberg during a school strike to demand action on climate change on March 15, 2019. the kids have revealed a new
New Kids On The Block - This One's for the Children - YouTube
Stadium switch poised to lift Spurs, Football News & Top
0 comments:
Post a Comment