Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool will not be haunted by their Premier League title collapse five years ago when they face Chelsea in another seismic showdow Sunday.
Liverpool are chasing their first English top-flight title since 1990. A victory over the Blues at Anfield would be a big step toward that dream.
But Chelsea stirs some extremely unpleasant memories for everyone connected with the Premier League leaders.
Back in 2014, Liverpool, then managed by Brendan Rodgers, sat top of the table when they were beaten 2-0 by Chelsea at Anfield in a match made famous by a costly slip from Steven Gerrard that gifted a goal to Demba Ba.
That painful loss came at a similar stage of the campaign and current title rivals Manchester City went on to lift the trophy by two points.
With Liverpool sitting two points clear of City, who have a game in hand, there is just as much at stake for the Reds in their latest meeting with Chelsea.
Few Liverpool players remain from that game and Klopp is adamant that past failures will be a burden for this generation.
“I’m not sure that’s in anyone’s mind. You can tell all the fans out there to ignore it. It has nothing to do with us. It is a completely different story,” Klopp said.
“It’s all about the game on Sunday. Anyone who wants to talk to any of my players about what happened years ago, don’t do it. We want to write our own history,” he added. “I’m not nervous. I feel the intensity of the competition, but we see the positivity of the moment.”
“We want to make the next step because it’s not over yet. We try to encourage them to play ‘big balls’ football. We will make mistakes and we have to deal with them,” he said.
For all Klopp’s optimism, Liverpool have not beaten Chelsea at Anfield in their past eight encounters, a barren run that includes a 2-1 League Cup defeat this season inspired by Eden Hazard’s superb late winner.
AFP