Swansea arrive at Anfield with just one win in their last 10 matches and with continued speculation about the future of manager Garry Monk.
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Jurgen Klopp has signalled his intention to give his side the best chance of victory in Wednesday night’s League Cup tie against Southampton. It’s good for both of us that I’m here.
But provided Christian Benteke is able to play a second game in four days following his own recent injury problems, Klopp – who is also without long-term absentee Danny Ings and suspended midfielder Lucas Leiva – insists he is not concerned about his attacking resources.
There was more good news from Klopp with playmaker Coutinho in contention for the trip to the south coast.
“Daniel did what we spoke about before, that he should be our target for winning balls, once we got the ball be an option, the first option. It is a great time to be in good form going into this Christmas period and hopefully we can keep it going”.
“They defended really well so it was a hard game, we had to change it in the second half and it was hard with the wind”.
Caballero is in line to deputise again for the injured Joe Hart, while manager Manuel Pellegrini must decide whether to hand a start to influential striker Sergio Aguero, who went off with a knock against Southampton.
Coutinho, meanwhile, will require a late fitness check as Klopp is loathe to unnecessarily risk him. We have to talk to Phil.
Klopp detailed the factors involved in selecting his best 11.
“We can’t ignore the last two games and we can’t ignore the next game, that’s the situation”. I’m happy to be in this team and working with players like this.
With 8 goals/assists in 14 games (one every 142 mins) Ayew has started well in the Premier League, but the acid test is how well he performs over an entire season. That’s not our situation and we have to think about it.
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The Anfield outfit will be looking for their fourth consecutive win in all competitions when they take on the Saints at St Mary’s Stadium.
