Jurgen Klopp expects ‘intense’ season after World Cup

Jurgen Klopp is preparing his Liverpool side for their trip to Aston Villa in the Premier League on 26 December and says the next year will be intense for players returning from the World Cup.

“For the players who played in the World Cup, the whole year will be incredibly intense,” Klopp said on Friday following Liverpool’s 3-2 Carabao Cup defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

“That’s really, really, really tough. We will have to see how we deal with that, and we will be really careful with the information we get.

“That makes planning really difficult for the next game because we were 100% clear what we want to do against City and then you have to change in the last second pretty much, that’s not cool but it’s the situation and that might happen against Villa as well so we need to be flexible.”

Liverpool’s injury issues

James Milner was substituted after 38 minutes against City due to a hamstring injury, and Klopp revealed that the experienced midfielder will be out of action for a couple of fixtures. Roberto Firmino is also set to be ruled out due to a calf problem.

“Millie (Milner) didn’t get better since then – he will be out for a couple of games. Same for Bobby (Firmino),” Klopp said.

“Trent (Alexander-Arnold) hopefully will be better. Hasn’t taken part in a full session yet.”