01 December 2023 , 14:07
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Jurgen Klopp has urged his Liverpool players to keep making Anfield a daunting proposition for opponents after the Reds continued their 100 per cent home record.
Liverpool earned a comfortable 4-0 win over LASK in the Europa League to book their passage into the last 16 of the competition, thanks to goals from Luis Diaz, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo's brace. That made it 10 successive home victories this season, with the Reds scoring 31 and conceding four in the process.
Next up for Klopp's men is Fulham in the Premier League at Anfield on Sunday, where they will be hoping to continue that excellent home run. Speaking after the Reds' victory over LASK, Klopp said: "It is our home, it must, must, must be a difficult place to come.
"I said to the boys before LASK for example, I think every player if they are not playing at Liverpool and play in a different country and then you see the group, playing at Anfield is a dream. But actually it must be a nightmare and that is what we try to do.
"It didn't work out all the time but when our people are at it, it makes a massive difference. It was always a situation where we had to give on the pitch and the crowd was there or it was the other way but we were always together really good. It happened rarely that the atmosphere was not great and we still played a super game or the other way round.
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"So it is cool but I think my best skill is not feeling at all winning streaks, I just don't feel it because the next game is so important, so different, so difficult, all these kind of things. That's why I don't think they help really, maybe for the other team to think it's a difficult place to go but for us each game stays difficult because of the quality of the opponent."
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool have an excellent record at Anfield (Getty Images)After last weekend's 1-1 draw against Manchester City, Liverpool will no doubt have real belief that they can challenge for the title this season. The Reds currently sit third, two points behind leaders Arsenal. But with Fulham, Sheffield United and Crystal Palace to come within six days, Klopp's men will be eager to put a run together.
In fact, Liverpool have seven matches to contend with in December, including a Carabao Cup quarter-final against West Ham. There has been some questions about whether Klopp will rotate to keep his players fresh for an action-packed period, but he's not sure that's entirely possible.
"I am not sure we can rotate all the time, I don't know, it depends on who is available," Klopp said. "We have to do it as long as we can but I don't know if we can do it. You saw Newcastle playing in the Champions League with two goalies and three kids on the bench and a centre-half. That is really tough.
"We have to make sure we have as many available as much as you can have influence on it, which we don't have really. We watch it, take what we get, and go from there. As I said, the toughest period in world football is coming up and it's a good start against LASK, now let's keep going."