Jurgen Klopp stressed the need for Liverpool's attackers to step up in the absence of Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane, ahead of their Premier League clash with Brentford at Anfield.
With Salah and Mane featuring at the Africa Cup of Nations, Klopp's side struggled to create clear-cut opportunities last time out, in a goalless draw with Arsenal in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final.
Following a six-game winning run in November and December, Liverpool are also winless in their last three Premier League games, throwing away a lead to draw two of those games.
Speaking ahead of Brentford's first trip to Anfield since March 1989, Klopp praised the contribution of Roberto Firmino, before calling for other players in his Reds squad to step up.
"He [Firmino] is a very smart player", Klopp said in a news conference. "His game is about using his team-mates in the way that he can use them.
"It's not just about being able to score goals in this way or that way.
"In one of our biggest games in recent history we played without Mo [a 7-0 win at Crystal Palace in December 2020, where Salah spent the first hour on the bench], and we won against Manchester United [a 5-0 victory earlier this season] without Mane.
"Now both are out, and that is not cool, but we don't think [of Firmino] 'you have to be like him or like him'".
Salah and Mane have scored 24 Premier League goals between them this season, on par with their combined expected goals (xG).
Firmino, meanwhile, has only netted four league goals this campaign, with an October hat-trick against Watford representing his only Premier League strikes since the opening day.
Klopp was also asked about the role of versatile youngster Curtis Jones, who made a lively cameo from the bench in Liverpool's frustrating draw with the Gunners, and stressed the need for Jones to show greater consistency.
"I had a long talk last week with Curtis," Klopp said. "I love the boy, I love the potential he has, but we have to make sure he makes those next steps, and fulfils that potential on the pitch.
"You have these kinds of conversations when you are not 100 per cent happy with a player in that moment. We have to find a way for him to show this [potential] much more often."
Jones provided just one goal and two assists in 24 league appearances last season, featuring regularly as Liverpool battled an injury crisis, and Klopp highlighted the need for the midfielder to contribute in the absence of the side's bigger names.
"It's an ongoing process between Curtis and me. We've had a tricky period, especially with Covid, which is not helpful, but now we'll try to make sure he can show how good he can be," Klopp added.
Denmark sharpen up for Euro 2024 in style with convincing win over Norway
Erling Haaland got on the scoresheet but Norway lost 3-1 to Denmark as the latter concluded their Euro 2024 preparations in style.
Pierre-Emile Hojberg opened the scoring for the hosts in Brondby on Saturday, drilling home with a powerful right-footed effort in the 12th minute.
Defender Jannik Vestergaard added a second nine minutes later as he headed home Andreas Skov Olsen's teasing corner kick.
Manchester City star Haaland thought he had halved the deficit in the 65th minute only to see his effort ruled out after a VAR review, but he did score seven minutes later, finishing from Martin Odegaard's intricate pick out.
Yet the Danes would give their supporters the perfect send-off as they head to Germany, with Youseff Poulsen restoring their two-goal advantage in stoppage time.
Elsewhere, Denmark's Group C opponents Serbia also managed an impressive victory ahead of their meeting on June 25, securing a comfortable 3-0 win over Sweden in Stockholm.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic gave the Eagles an early advantage at the Friends Arena, with captain Aleksandr Mitrovic scoring his 58th international goal on the hour-mark. Dusan Tadic rounded off the scoring 10 minutes later with a fine finish beyond Robin Olsen.
Serbia will face England, who lost to Iceland on Friday, in their opening match at Euro 2024.
Hungary also won by the same scoreline in Debrecen as a rampant 11-minute flurry was enough to secure a comfortable victory.
Barnabas Varga teed up Roland Sallai for the opening goal of the game, and then scored twice in quick succession, first finishing from close range before Sallai turned provider for his team-mate to conclude the contest.
Switzerland and Austria played out a 1-1 draw at the Kybunpark as Christoph Baumgartner saw his fifth-minute strike cancelled out by defender Silvan Widmer.
Zverev reaches French Open final as illness affects Ruud
Alexander Zverev roared into his second grand slam final by beating Casper Ruud 2-6 6-2 6-4 6-2 at the French Open, the Norwegian affected by illness as he wilted on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Ruud entered Friday's semi-final rested after benefitting from Novak Djokovic's withdrawal in the last eight, and he controlled the baseline rallies with confidence as he took the opener.
However, a long forehand gifted Zverev a break in the opening game of the second set and the German did not look back from there, winning 92 per cent of points behind his first serve as he levelled things up.
More mistakes crept into Ruud's game and he told the umpire he was feeling unwell three games into the third, when Zverev continued to press home his physical advantage.
Ruud left the court after going 2-1 down in a bid to recompose himself, but Zverev set the tone for another dominant set by crashing home a big forehand winner for an opening-game break, and Ruud never looked like hitting back as the big-serving German advanced.
Data Debrief: Zverev's clay form rewarded
Zverev has become increasingly comfortable on the clay this year, winning the Italian Open and reaching his first final at Roland Garros.
He is just the fifth player in the last two decades to reach the men's singles final at both events in the same year, after Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
He will take on Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday's showpiece match, having won five of his nine tour-level meetings with the Spaniard.
Liverpool chairman Werner 'determined' to take Premier League games abroad
Liverpool chairman Tom Werner is "determined" to take Premier League games to the United States and elsewhere around the globe.
The subject of leagues playing regular-season matches abroad has become a subject of debate in recent weeks, after FIFA pledged to analyse the impact of moving games.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters recently said the door was "ajar" for games to be played in other countries, due to a legal settlement between FIFA and US-based match promoter Relevant Sports.
Premier League fans would likely oppose overseas games more than most, with supporter protests in England having contributed to the demise of the European Super League in 2021.
Liverpool were one of the clubs at the forefront of that ill-fated project, and Werner has risked the wrath of Reds fans by putting his name to plans for global games.
"I'm determined one day to have a Premier League game be played in New York City," Werner told the Financial Times.
"I even have the crazy idea that there would be a day where we play one game in Tokyo, one game a few hours later in Los Angeles, one game a few hours later in Rio, one game a few hours later in Riyadh.
"We make it a day where football, where the Premier League, is celebrated."
Asked how clubs could get fans to support the plans, Werner added: "Let's figure out a way to offer them very cheap travel and accommodation.
"If Liverpool are playing Nottingham Forest, we will support fans coming to New York and make this an attractive thing for the fans as well."
Liverpool will play in the US during pre-season, facing Arsenal in Philadelphia on July 31 before taking on Manchester United in Columbia, South Carolina three days later.
LaLiga is also looking to revive plans to play matches abroad, after opposition from players and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) killed a proposal for Barcelona to face Girona in Miami in 2019.
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