Klopp warns Liverpool over potential Burnley 'banana skin' / Photo: Adrian DENNIS - AFP/File
Klopp warns Liverpool over potential Burnley 'banana skin'
Jurgen Klopp is wary of a "potential banana skin" as he prepares Liverpool to face lowly Burnley on Saturday, with the Premier League leaders smarting from last week's defeat at Arsenal.
Klopp's men have 51 points, two points clear of defending champions Manchester City and Arsenal.
The German, who recently announced he would be stepping down as manager at the end of the season, has urged his side to ignore the visitors' poor form, which has left them seven points from safety.
"From the outside world it is probably a proper banana skin," he told a pre-match press conference on Friday. "For a sportsperson it is probably not as it is an opponent we respect a lot.
"The first thing we should forget is where Burnley is in the table as that creates a potential banana skin -- it's just a game."
As a player, Burnley boss Vincent Kompany never won at Anfield in eight visits with Manchester City.
But Kompany played a pivotal role in preventing Liverpool winning the title in 2018/19 with a brilliant winner for City against Leicester, which edged them a point ahead of Klopp's side heading into the final game.
"I forgave him for that a long time (ago). If there are players I should hate, Arjen Robben is one of them," said Klopp, referring to the then Bayern Munich winger's 89th-minute winner against his Borussia Dortmund side in the 2013 Champions League final.
"I believe there are other situations in that season that were more influential than when Vincent Kompany scores that goal -- and when I think about that situation I still think (James) Maddison should have blocked the shot.
"Vincent just tried to get rid of the ball and it ended up in the goal. Not that it's not important but yes, I forgave long ago."
Klopp said midfielder Thiago Alcantara would play again this season after the veteran Spain international picked up a muscle problem in his first match of the season last week.
Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah are also sidelined, while Ibrahima Konate is suspended and flu is affecting the squad.
"Two or three weeks ago we sat here and were talking about the luxury problem of lining up players -- if anybody asks me that question again then I will kick them out of the room," joked the Liverpool boss.
O.Wood--EWJ
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