Ahead of Tuesday’s EFL Cup fourth-round meeting with Spurs, Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool are targeting another run to final following last season’s heartbreaking defeat to Manchester City.
After powering past Burton Albion and Derby County, the Reds take on Spurs for a place in the quarter finals as Klopp aims to take a step closer to his first Liverpool silverware.
They agonisingly missed out on the trophy last term, beaten by Manchester City on penalties following a hard-fought 1-1 draw, but Klopp is confident his side can go one better this time round in what he branded a “very big cup tournament”.
“We decided directly after the game against City that we should try again,” he told the official Liverpool website. “That’s all.
“It would be a sign, a little bit of a negative sign, if you need to lose a final to want to win it next year.
“It’s a very, very interesting tournament, a very big cup tournament, and that’s the reason why we want to go to the final.
“When we are in the final next time we want to win it, of course, and nobody should be worried about this.
“I did not know anything about the final before, it’s not too easy to see these finals in Germany.
“When I was there, [I saw that] it’s a real final, that’s really good. It was a great experience for all of us, it was close, it was a good game, so everything was like it should be apart from the result.”
It finished all-square when Liverpool last faced Tottenham in August, with Danny Rose’s strike cancelling out James Milner’s opener, and Klopp expects another tough game against Mauricio Pochettinho’s men, unbeaten in the league this season.
“They are still good. Good in defending, good in attacking, not a lot of weaknesses,” he summarised.
“It will be close but that’s no problem, it makes it exciting.
“It’s again, what I said after the game [against West Brom] about the atmosphere, I think everybody who was there thought something was different today.
“We are not four, five, six nil in the lead but the atmosphere was really fantastic and that’s what we have to try to create again.
“All the other teams will make as many problems for us as possible but being really in the game as a team and a crowd that’s the thing we can still improve.
“Creating a real Liverpool atmosphere more often, or always, that’s the challenge for all of us. I’m really looking forward to the game.
“It’s another game at Anfield, it is still fantastic to play there, and against a strong opponent it’s the best thing you could wish.”
Though the competition represents a fantastic opportunity for Liverpool to end what will be a five-year trophy drought, Klopp is set to ring the changes for Tuesday’s game, with Simon Mignolet likely to return and young starlets Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ovie Ejaria also in contention.
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