Klopp Wants Improved Liverpool Performance Against City in FA Cup

Two games a week. Tired players. Limited recovery time. No chance to do in-depth work on tactics in training. These are the problems Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool face in the final weeks of the 2021-22 season, but they’re good problems to have. They’re problems that mean a chance at glory.

“It’s a normal problem when you’re in the semi-finals of two competitions,” Klopp said when asked about the fixture overload facing his Reds in the coming weeks. “That’s normal, that’s our problem, so I have no problem dealing with that but it is massive because each hour counts for recovery.”

A two-goal advantage allowed Klopp to rotate against Benfica on Wednesday while Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final opponents Manchester City were in tough against Atletico Madrid on the road, but Klopp pointed out his side was the ones that had to travel before last weekend’s league game.

If that did play a role in Liverpool at times looking second-best against the league leaders in a 2-2 draw that maintained the status quo in the title race, perhaps the situations being reversed this time out will give Klopp’s players a slight edge—and regardless he thinks there’s room for improvement.

“I think City was really strong last week and we were not at our best,” he added. “So I would like to see a game where we are at our best as well. The boys did a lot good the last game but I think we had a couple of positions where we can perform on a different level and we should give that a try.

“Honestly, I really like this. I want twelve finals between now and the end of the season. We want to be in these kind of games. It’s tough but it’s the best schedule to have because it means you’re in all the competitions that’s why I’m really looking forward to this game. I think it will be cool.”