Antonio Conte has stated that his Tottenham players must be brave when they have the ball on Saturday evening against Liverpool if they are to seal a win at Anfield. Heading into the game needing the points in their top-four quest, the Reds also need maximum points as they look to overhaul Manchester City at the summit of the Premier League.
Antonio Conte said: “We are trying to have a good idea. I hope not the same idea as Liverpool. We know that in this moment it is very difficult to play against Liverpool because they are in really good form and I watched the game against Villarreal and it was incredible the composure and calm, they faced a difficult situation. After the first half they were 2-0 down and the atmosphere was very difficult for Liverpool. I saw great composure and calm from them, now they know they are strong, they are one of the best teams in the world with Manchester City, they are very good. At the same time it will be a good game for us. We prepared the game very well and I think we need to be very good without the ball to be good defensively, but if we want to win we have to be very good with the ball. I said this to my players, we need to play a good game and be brave when we have the ball, don’t be scared for all the pressure and to find the solution. We have improved a lot. We can go there to play and try to get three points. We are in this race for a place in the Champions League and for this reason we need to get points in every game. Every game is a big chance for us to improve the table. In this game we have to try and beat Liverpool.”
Guiding Liverpool to Premier League and Champions League glory in recent seasons, Klopp could potentially lead the Reds to the quadruple this month, with the team in the final of Europe’s premier competition and also the FA Cup, having already beaten Chelsea on penalties at Wembley to claim the Carabao Cup in February. So does the German have a weakness as a manager?
Antonio Conte added: “I think I can speak about the weaknesses of the team, not the manager because it’s very difficult to speak about the person. Jurgen Klopp is doing a fantastic job for Liverpool. He needed a bit of time to create this amazing team and now it’s very difficult to find a problem in this team, a weak point, it’s very difficult.”
