Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp wants electric Anfield for Boxing Day visit of Newcastle
Wednesday 26 December 2018 07:00, UK
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has warned Newcastle to expect a red-hot atmosphere at Anfield on Boxing Day.
Klopp's Liverpool side must beat Newcastle to ensure they remain top of the Premier League table heading into 2019 and their visit to champions Manchester City on January 3, live and exclusive on Sky Sports.
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Liverpool are the only unbeaten team left in Britain but Klopp says he is not taking Newcastle lightly, even though the Boxing Day visitors have lost half of their 18 Premier League matches this season.
"Wednesday is a very important game," Klopp said.
"Everybody is in a Christmas mood apart from us. We are not in a Christmas mood.
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"Everyone in England wants Boxing Day games. That is good, but then don't be in the Christmas mood on the 26th. And come in for this one-and-a-half hours and give all that you have, because we need again an exceptional atmosphere to beat a very difficult-to-beat team.
"We can't take anything for granted. We can't look at our points and their amount of points. If you think that - that is when things go wrong. It can still go wrong - that is how life is - but we have to be focused, we all have to be focused, not nervous."
Liverpool sit four points clear of City at the top of the table and look a completely different proposition to the side that finished fourth in the Premier League last season.
And although the Reds suffered heartbreak in last season's Champions League final, losing 3-1 to Real Madrid, Klopp hopes the defeat gives his side the hunger to keep their Premier League title hopes alive
"We smelt a little bit last year how it could be," Klopp said. "We were close a few times, that's how it is.
"But let's try it again. Let's try and be as successful as possible, and you cannot in any sport in the world be successful without any kind of hunger. It's not possible.
"But there is no pressure. I don't see the pressure. The pressure is to win against Newcastle, which is difficult enough. There is no extra pressure on us because of a four-point gap."
