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Jurgen Klopp has said Liverpool face a “Champions League week” as they prepare to take on Premier League title contenders Manchester City and Arsenal.
Liverpool play Pep Guardiola’s side at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, travel to Chelsea on Tuesday before hosting league leaders Arsenal next week.
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The Merseyside club, who are aiming to finish in the Champions League spots, are seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham but have two games in hand.
“It’s like a Champions League week. I’m super excited,” Klopp told a news conference on Friday. “We are not dumb.
“We know the last game against [Real] Madrid wasn’t a good game, before that at Bournemouth wasn’t a good game, the one before was world class.”
After missing the international break through injury, City striker Erling Haaland is a doubt to face Liverpool on Saturday but Klopp said the team has enough quality to cope without the Norway international.
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“When you prepare a game, you prepare all things to avoid the final pass — which is where Erling really comes into the game,” he added.
“He is a proper striker, but they became champions without a striker. That’s how it is, you never know 100% who can play.”
Klopp also confirmed that Naby Keita is still out of action but added Luis Diaz is close to returning following a long-term injury.
“He is back in small parts of training after a very long time out,” he said. “It’s fantastic to have him back. He’s such an energiser, it’s a boost to have him around.
“He will not train today with us. This week was step one, to be back into team training.
“He did parts of it, so next week, I think we will increase that to full team training and then he is ready, but we have to judge every day and see how he deals with the intensity. It looks really promising.”