LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said that the club does not have to be at the 'highest level' football-wise in their first Premier League match after its resumption but the squad must show they are 'ready to find solutions to solve problems'.
Liverpool defeated Blackburn Rovers 6-0 in a friendly at Anfield on Thursday as the club continues its preparation for the return of the Premier League. The club will get back to action on June 21 when they face Everton.
"Yes, from the first day it looked really good. Shape is important, form and things like this are important of course, but it is attitude," the club's official website quoted Klopp as saying when asked how he feels the squad is shaping up.
"It is work-rate. It is things like, 'are you ready to go for these kind of things?' In the first game, we don't have to be football-wise on our highest level, but we need to show that we are ready for competition, that we are ready to defend, that we are ready to find solutions to solve problems or find solutions for difficult situations," he added.
Klopp also expressed satisfaction with the club's preparation and is happy with the team's performance against Blackburn.
"That's what we have to be - and I saw that today. The boys really did well and that's how they've looked since we've been back - and how they looked before we were away, so [it's] so far, so good," he said.
Before the suspension of the Premier League because of the coronavirus pandemic, Liverpool were sitting at the top of the table with 82 points.