Jurgen Klopp: Need to improve away record in UCL

Published at :October 23, 2019 at 10:53 PM

Modified at :November 5, 2019 at 8:02 PM

The Reds have not won a single away Champions League groups stage match since the start of the last season.

Ahead of Liverpool's third UEFA Champions League game of the season, head coach Jurgen Klopp has expressed his worry about the team's away record in the continental tournament. Liverpool lost their every away UCL group stage fixture last season but it did not harm them much as they went on the lift the title.

The Reds will play their second away game against Genk - the Belgian champions.

Talking to Sky, Klopp said, "Last year we were lucky with how tight the group was that we could lose three times away and still have a chance to make it through the group. That will not happen this year. It's completely different."

"We don't rely on home games or whatever. Obviously we like to say European nights at Anfield are really special but other teams can make a special atmosphere as well."

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The Premier League table-toppers opened their season with a 2-0 away defeat to Napoli which was followed by a thrilling night at Anfield which saw a seven-goal game against RB Salzburg. Further talking about the away games, the coach said, "They are not all the same. We could have won away games to be honest performance-wise which we didn't win for some reason."

"We know it's not historically good what we have done (in the away group games) in the last few years, but in general, the Champions League was obviously really good."

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News | Article Continues Below"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS] Liverpool looked a bit tired in their game against Manchester United in the Premier League and the boss insists that they are not tired. He also said that he will not make the changes just because they should be done in a particular match. Talking more on the topic, he revealed the plan that Naby Keita could feature in the UCL game after getting ten minutes in their previous fixture. "We have to have the right mindset. Yes it is a very intense period. Some of my players have already played 17 games with internationals - that is half a season in Germany," he said.

"Soon. Naby is one-and-a-half or two weeks in full training. He looks good and that is why he played (against Manchester United).

"In training, I see it a lot, so that was the best news. It will not be long."