Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool's manager, urged his team to return to basics as they prepare to face Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday in a replay of the third round of the FA Cup, following a humiliating 3-0 defeat in the Premier League against Brighton. Liverpool, the defending cup holder, drew 2-2 at home against Wolverhampton earlier this month after Hwang Hee-chan equalized in the 66th minute, fortunate to leave with a draw after a late Wolverhampton goal was ruled out for offside by the referee.
If Liverpool defeats Wolverhampton, they will face Brighton again, who scored three goals against the Merseyside team in both league matches this season and dominated from the start in the win on Saturday. Klopp told reporters, "Football problems are solved by football mechanisms. The team should have played better against Brighton. It shouldn't have been that hard a match. We need to play strong, close spaces, and apply pressure on the opponent. We need to defend better. At many moments, the spaces seem too large, and we need to defend firmly. We have to return to basics, that's what we need to do."
Klopp stated that Liverpool will field the strongest possible lineup against Wolverhampton. He added, "(Wolverhampton) is in a good spell and is playing well at home. They won their match over the weekend 1-0 at home against West Ham United. It will be a tough encounter. Not all the players who participated in the last match are fully fit for various reasons, and we will make changes. We want to win the match. I can tell the players who lost in Brighton that they have put us in this situation; let's see how we get out of it... I will make decisions and we will make changes, that makes sense."
The German coach, who previously suggested that Liverpool is unlikely to sign more players in the January transfer window, stated that his team is not weak. He added, "We are also looking into the transfer market. The club is not stubborn and does not think of keeping the current squad until 2060. If solutions are available and feasible, we will certainly buy players. We have a squad that is underperforming, but I cannot blame anyone else. I must take responsibility. This is my responsibility. Our squad is not small. Of course, we need to strengthen the squad, but is this the right time to do that? I can't judge well because of the situation we are in now."
