Jurgen Klopp believes Napoli have the quality to reach the Champions League final ahead of Liverpool’s meeting with the group leaders.
Liverpool take on the Italian side in their final group stage fixture, with both teams already assured of their progress to the last 16.
Napoli have been in superb form so far this season and have a perfect record in the Champions League so far, with Liverpool needing to win by four goals to overhaul Luciano Spalletti’s side and win the group.
Given the difficulty of that challenge, Klopp could look rotate his squad amid a congested run of fixtures. The Reds have been poor in the Premier League so far this season and face top four rivals Tottenham this weekend.
“It’s a pretty quick turnaround since Leeds so I’m not fully aware of the situation with the players,” Klopp said at his pre-match press conference.
“We do not want to take risks but Napoli is in incredible shape, plays incredible football and are maybe the team in form in Europe at the moment.
“It is not a game for rotation probably. We want to win the game but the result in the moment is not really important.
“I have to make the line up later today, maybe tomorrow morning, and we’ll go from there.”
Klopp was full of praise for Tuesday’s opponents, who are unbeaten in 17 fixtures across all competitions this season. Napoli are the leading scorers in the Champions League with 20 goals from just five games and Klopp believes the Serie A side can compete to win the competition.
🗣️ “I’m 55, I go a couple of times a night at the toilet. That’s why I wake up usually but in this moment, the Leeds goal woke me up.”
Jürgen Klopp on waking up during the night thinking about goals against Liverpool. 😂 pic.twitter.com/Ps4JBtWHS8
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) October 31, 2022
“Yes, if they continue to play like this they can go to the final. They are the form team in Europe.
“Did they copy our style? No, [Luciano] Spalletti is a very experienced coach.
“With that experience and some really good signings they have brought a group together that works on an exceptionally high level.”
Klopp refused to confirm his team selection ahead of the clash and insisted whatever side he selects will have to perform in front of a home crowd at Anfield.
“In the Champions League group stage the most thing is you qualify and go through to the knockouts. We did that.
“We have a full Anfield so we have to put a proper shift in.
“I don’t know at the moment who will be available but when I do then I can think about the outcome of how we can play against them.
“Everyone knows what they’re doing, they defend together, they play some good stuff. So that’s what we have to think about.”
