- Title: Klopp cautious ahead of Genk clash, hopeful on Salah return
- Date: 22nd October 2019
- Summary: GENK, BELGIUM (OCTOBER 22, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** LIVERPOOL MANAGER, JURGEN KLOPP, DISEMBARKING TEAM BUS KLOPP WAITING FOR PLAYERS TO DISEMBARK LIVERPOOL MIDFIELDER, JAMES MILNER, DISEMBARKING TEAM BUS LIVERPOOL GOALKEEPER ADRIAN, FORWARD MOHAMED SALAH, AND OTHER PLAYERS DISEMBARKING TEAM BUS INTERIOR OF PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIVERPOOL MANAGER, JURGEN KLOPP, SAYING: "Yeah that (Mohamed Salah's chances of returning from injury for Wednesday's fixture) looks promising, to be honest. And yesterday we were not sure, still, and today it looked good so we have to wait how he reacts overnight. We will not take any risk of it - today it looked really good. That was important. And (Alexander) Trent and Joel (Matip) are not even here so then it's clear that they will probably not be available for tomorrow." LIVERPOOL GOALKEEPER ALISSON, DEFENDER ANDY ROBERTSON AND OTHER PLAYERS DISEMBARKING TEAM BUS LIVERPOOL ATTACKER SADIO MANE, MIDFIELDER NABI KEITA AND DEFENDER JOE GOMES DISEMBARKING TEAM BUS (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIVERPOOL MANAGER, JURGEN KLOPP, SAYING: "And Tim's answer: there is no (UEFA) Champions League game that is straight forward. I think let's just...If we saw (Racing) Genk - and it makes absolute sense that you do that before you judge an opponent - if you saw Genk against (FC) Salzburg, not only the result, the game, then you would have said after half an hour: which result would you suggest and the result that was there at the end would not be part of any ideas of anybody. So, because (it) just didn't look like that. Then they lost a game and then against Napoli they were against really good. We don't want to make Genk bigger than they are. But they are in the Champions League and they play good football and they are at home and they can be annoying - what they were against Napoli. Napoli had big chances but Genk had parts of the game. They play good football, it's a brave team. They became last year champion in Belgium, which is not easy." INTERIOR OF PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIVERPOOL MIDFIELDER, JAMES MILNER, ON BALLON D'OR NOMINATIONS, SAYING: "Yeah, I think it's well-deserved, the lads (boys) who are in there. And I think it says a lot about the team and the job we're doing as a club and as a squad collectively. You know, there's probably a couple more in there who could have had a chance as well." LIVERPOOL SQUAD LEAVING GENK STADIUM AFTER VISITING THE PITCH LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UK (OCTOBER 22, 2019) (REUTERS) LIVERPOOL MANAGER JUERGEN KLOPP TALKING WITH ASSISTANTS MOHAMED SALAH TRAINING KLOPP LOOKING ON VIRGIL VAN DIJK TRAINING SALAH WITH OTHER PLAYERS (LEFT TO RIGHT) GIORGINIO WIJNALDUM, SADIO MANE, FABINHO AND ROBERTP FIRMINO STRETCHING JAMES MILNER WARMING UP VAN DIJK (LEFT) WITH JOE GOMEZ WIJNALDUM, MANE AND FABINHO GOALKEEPER ALISSON BECKER TRAINING FIRMINO AND FABINHO JORDAN HENDERSON AND MILNER PLAYERS ON TRAINING PITCH GENK, BELGIUM (OCTOBER 22, 2019) (REUTERS) INTERIOR OF RACING GENK STADIUM INTERIOR OF GENK STADIUM GENK PLAYERS WALKING TO TRAINING GENK MIDFIELDER, SANDER BERGE, AND OTHER PLAYERS WALKING TO TRAINING GENK MANAGER, FELICE MAZZU, WALKING TO TRAINING GENK PLAYERS WARMING UP BEFORE TRAINING GENK PLAYERS PRACTISING BEFORE TRAINING GENK DEFENDER, MBWANA SAMATTA, AND OTHER PLAYERS TRAINING GENK PLAYERS TRAINING GENK PLAYERS TRAINING GENK PLAYERS LISTENING TO COACH GENK PLAYERS JOGGING GENK PLAYERS JOGGING GENK TRAINERS WATCHING PLAYERS TRAIN GENK PLAYERS DOING PASSING DRILLS GENK DEFENDER, JOAKIM MAEHLE, AND OTHER PLAYERS DOING PASSING DRILLS INTERIOR OF PRESS CONFERENCE WITH GENK PLAYERS AND STAFF BEFORE LIVERPOOL MATCH (SOUNDBITE) (English) GENK MANAGER, FELICE MAZZU, SAYING: "We must know (that) we are playing against a good team. But we must believe (because) we did this against Napoli - everything is possible in football. So, we must go on the pitch with a lot of trust and to want and to have the desire to (have) a good game." GENK PLAYERS TRAINING GENK DEFENDER, MBWANA SAMATTA, AND OTHER PLAYERS TRAINING GENK DEFENDER, PAUL ONUACHU, AND OTHER PLAYERS WARMING UP WITH STRETCHING DRILLS (SOUNDBITE) (English) GENK DEFENDER MBWANA SAMATTA, SAYING: "When I was a kid I always used to support Manchester United. Well, we're not talking about Manchester United now we are talking about Liverpool, but we believe they are a strong team right now not only in the Premier League but also in the European competitions. So, we expect a tough game tomorrow and we are going to try to break them down. In a way we are playing in front of our own supporters - it's a home game so we want to be happy after the game. We're going to do our best." GENK MIDFIELDER, SANDER BERGE, AND OTHER PLAYERS TRAINING GENK DEFENDER, MBWANA SAMATTA, AND OTHER PLAYERS STRETCHING GENK PLAYERS STRETCHING GENK PLAYERS JOGGING
- Embargoed: 5th November 2019 21:00
- Keywords: Champions League Genk Liverpool Juergen Klopp James Milner Felice Mazzu Mbwana Samatta
- Location: LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UK AND GENK, BELGIUM
- City: LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UK AND GENK, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001B26K4ZJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp is cautiously optimistic ahead of his side's UEFA Champions League game against Racing Genk on Wednesday (October 23) with the hope that his team can grab another win and the possibility of a Mohamed Salah return to the side.
Genk held on to clinch a draw against Liverpool's primary qualification contenders, Napoli, in a match which was widely considered an upset. Napoli fielded a weakened side after previously beating Liverpool, with Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne left out of the starting line-up.
Seven Liverpool players were nominated for the prestigious Ballon d'Or footballing award. Liverpool midfielder James Milner said that even more Liverpool players could have been nominated after the team won the UEFA Champions League and came a close second in the Premier League.
Salah could return from ankle injury in time for the clash in Belgium, with Klopp saying the forward looked promising in training earlier in the day back home. Liverpool saw their Premier League winning run curtailed in a 1-1 draw with local rivals Manchester United earlier this week and will hope to bounce back to winning ways.
Liverpool defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip have been ruled out of the tie with injuries.
Genk coach Felice Mazzu said his team need to have the same self-belief they showed against Napoli when taking on the reigning European champions.
Genk defender, Mbwana Samatta, was aware of the threat that Liverpool pose to the Belgian champions. "We expect a tough game tomorrow and we are going to try to break them down," he said.
(Production: Christian Levaux and Jorrit Donner-Wittkopf) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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