

Jurgen Klopp has stressed that his Liverpool players must recover from the 1-0 Champions League defeat at Napoli and “be ready” for Sunday’s top-of-the-table Premier League visit of Manchester City. insists they cannot use their intense schedule as an excuse heading into their top-of-the-table Premier League clash against Manc
The Reds saw their 100 per cent record in the league ended last Saturday when they were held to a 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and they followed that up with a defeat in Europe when Lorenzo Insigne’s 90th-minute effort snatched a Group C win for the Italian Serie A outfit.
Sunday’s Anfield showdown will be both Liverpool and City’s seventh game in 23 days between September and October’s international breaks and the hectic run of matches seemed to have taken its toll on a number of Reds’ players who struggled to perform at Napoli.
However, City are in a similar boat and travelled to Germany to face Hoffenheim in the Champions League on Tuesday so Klopp is refusing to look for excuses before a ball has been kicked.
Instead, he is looking for his players to step up to the plate and use the backing of the vociferous home support to help them gain an edge over the reigning champions who sit ahead of them at the top of the Premier League by virtue of a better goal difference.
The German tactician said: “It is a tough game, absolutely. it is absolutely intense since the last international break. We cannot change that so we have to make sure we are ready.
“We don’t have to think about intensity. We have three days to recover and then we will face Man City.
“It would’ve been difficult any way at any time of the season, it is always difficult, but let’s have a look how the players are after the game and then we will prepare.
“Then we have our crowd at our backs. You could see Napoli used the atmosphere and we couldn’t calm it down, but on Sunday it will be 100 per cent different.”