Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp wants his team to stay “angry and greedy” as they prepare for another Premier League title challenge.
Klopp’s side fell a point short of Manchester City last season and beat Tottenham to win the Champions League.
They begin this season at home to newly-promoted Norwich City on Friday.
“What’s very important is that as the team that won the Champions League last year, we have to stay the team nobody wants to play against,” Klopp said.
“Not because of the name or the quality but the intensity.
“We have to be angry again, we have to be greedy again, we have to be all these things. That’s what I will ask the boys for and that’s what we have to show [against Norwich].”
Liverpool forward Sadio Mane is available despite starting pre-season late because of his involvement with Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Midfielder James Milner, who missed the Community Shield last weekend, has recovered from a muscle strain.
Norwich will be without injured central defenders Timm Klose and Christoph Zimmermann, along with midfielders Alex Tettey and Louis Thompson.
Josip Drmic and Patrick Roberts are among the new signings who could play.
Can Liverpool break their second-place ‘curse’?
How will the promoted sides fare?
MOTD COMMENTATOR’S NOTES
@Wilsonfooty: Norwich’s return to the top flight after a three-season absence is certainly welcome – they are a well-run club which has always liked to produce teams to play football worth watching.
It will be a return to Anfield for Stuart Webber. Not perhaps a household name, but Webber was headhunted to Liverpool’s recruitment team at the age of just 25 in 2009, and is the man who later brought David Wagner to manage Huddersfield Town and Daniel Farke to Norwich City – both notable successes who used their knowledge of the German second tier to great effect.
Like Wagner, Farke was previously the coach of Borussia Dortmund’s second team. Unlike Wagner, he never worked with Jurgen Klopp – but the pair should find plenty to talk about once their teams have kicked off the 2019-20 season.
VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: “The first game of the season is always difficult. Norwich has a clear plan and they have all my respect.
“These fixtures are always the banana skins. If you are not at 100%, you will slip.”
Norwich City head coach Daniel Farke: “I had a little smile when I saw our first game is against Liverpool. For me, they might be the best team in the world right now.
“Our lack of Premier League experience could be positive. Our naivety could be a good thing.
“I want my players to go out there and think about why they first started playing football. I want them to be brave and enjoy playing.”
LAWRO’S PREDICTION
I will be at Anfield for this one, and I am expecting Liverpool to win. They have got the Super Cup on Wednesday but I am expecting Jurgen Klopp to pick a strong side.
Prediction: 2-0
Source – BBC
